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Nigerians without NIN will be denied passports, driving licence– NCC
Modupe Shodeinde
The Nigerian Communications Commission has urged Nigerians to link their NINs with their SIMs before the expiration of the deadline of October 31, 2021 set by the Federal Government.
It added that Nigerians without NIN would soon be denied the opportunity of acquiring driving licences and passports.
This was disclosed in a statement titled ‘NIN-SIM Integration: NCC sensitises telecom consumers on October 31 Deadline’ signed by NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, on Wednesday.
The statement stated that the commission at the NCC Digital Signature radio programme, which transmitted the second episode of Telecoms Consumer Town Hall on Radio advised Nigerians to make use of the extension of the NIN-SIM integration exercise to enrol with NIMC, get their NINs and link them to their SIMs.
Speaking during the live programme on a radio station in Lagos to discuss benefits of NIN-SIM integration, the Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, said people without NIN will be denied of necessary services that play vital roles in their lives including acquisition of driving licence, passport.”
The statement further said, “On the benefits of the NIN-SIM integration, Adinde said the exercise will significantly enhance national security as NIN is the primary identity for Nigerians, stressing that in line with Federal Government’s commitment to ensure that Nigeria deploys technology to improve service delivery, the NIN-SIM database will enhance citizens’ access to government services.”
Also speaking on the show, NCC’s Director of Consumer Affairs Bureau of NCC, Efosa Idehen, said, “Those SIMs without unique identification could be used to commit crimes that remain untraceable.”
The Regional Director of NIMC in Lagos, Funmi Opesanwo, who also spoke on the programme, said that submission of NIN to a mobile network provider helped to provide a means of verifying an individual’s identity and safeguarding both identity and mobile line.
