Buhari approves extension of NIN-SIM linkage by four weeks

The Federal Government has extended the deadline for linking Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs) with valid National Identity Numbers (NIN) by one month.

This was contained in a statement by spokesperson of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Kayode Adegoke.

He informed the deadline was extended from April 6, 2021 to May 6, 2021 after participants at the meeting of the Ministerial Task Force on NIN-SIM data linkage agreed to have an extension of the process.

The statement reads: “The meeting took place on Thursday, April 1, 2021 and approval was given to extend the period of the NIN-SIM linkage to the 6th of May, 2021.

“The request for the extension was presented to President Muhammadu Buhari and he endorsed it.”

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, chaired the meeting.

The statement also stated based on the updates of the NIN registration process, over 51 million people had been assigned NINs.

“There are many people who have enrolled and are in the process of being assigned NINs,” it stated.

The statement added: “With each individual having an average of three to four SIMs, the total number of SIMs tied to NINs would close to the total number of registered SIMs in the country.’’

It said the current number of monthly enrollments had increased significantly to about 2.6 million registrations.