July 26, 2021 is the new deadline for every mobile phone user in the country to link their National Identification Number and Subscriber Identity Module (NIN-SIM) for the purpose of data verification, the government said in a statement announcing an extension of the old deadline.
Prior to this development, the government had proclaimed June 30, 2021 as the deadline for the verification exercise but in a joint statement signed by Ikechukwu Adinde, director, public affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and Kayode Adegoke, head, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), it said the decision to extend the deadline was made after a request by stakeholders on the need to consolidate the enrolment and NIN-SIM verification process following the rapid increase in the number of enrolment systems across the country.
“The FG has approved the extension as part of its effort to make it easier for its citizens and residents to obtain the NIN and it is important to take advantage of the extension. There are now a total of 57.3 million unique NIN enrolments, with average of three to four SIMs per NIN. With the great number of enrolment centres across the country, every citizen and legal resident should be able to obtain their NINs,” the statement read in part.
The statement also noted there were only about 800 enrolment systems across the country as at December 2020,but as at June 28, 2021, a total of 5,410 enrolment systems have been made available across the country. This, it said, would significantly ease the NIN enrolment process and subsequent linkage of NIN to SIM.
In furtherance, Umar Dambatta, executive vice chairman, NCC, and Aliyu Azeez, director-general, NIMC, enjoined citizens and legal residents of the country to make use of the opportunity to complete their enrolment and verification processes.