Breaking! Telcos receive 47.8m NINs as deadline expires

January 19, 2021

2 Min Read

Telecommunications operators in Nigeria have so far received a total of 47.8 million National Identity Number (NIN) to be linked with their subscribers’ lines. This came as the deadline for the submission of NIN by subscribers who already have the number expired today.

While the deadline for those yet to enrol for the national number remains February 9, 2021, the government had given those who already enrolled until today to submit it to their service providers or be blocked. However, a statement released today by the Director of Public Affairs of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, was silent on the actions the government will be taking against defaulters after today.

According to the statement, at the end of a review meeting on 18^th January 2021, the Technical Implementation Committee under the Ministerial Task Force has reported significant progress in the ongoing NIN-SIM linkage exercise.

“So far a total of 47.8 million NINs have been collected by the mobile operators. At an average of 3 to 4 SIMs per subscriber, this means many millions will be linked up before the deadline in February 2021,” the statement read.

Reacting to the report, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Panatami was said to have expressed satisfaction with this commendable achievement. “He expressed the Federal Government’s appreciation for the commitment demonstrated by all stakeholders and citizens and urged them to submit their NINs before 9^th February, 2021 deadline

“The Minister urged the technical team to fast-track the processes so that the project is delivered soonest.

“The Technical Committee drew attention to the App developed by FGN which allows subscribers to link up to a maximum of seven (7) SIMs to their NIN.

"The Minister concluded by reminding Nigerians to secure and protect their NINs, urging subscribers to desist from selling their NINs or allowing others to use their NINs for registration, warning that any action committed with the SIM good or bad will be officially traced and attached to the NIN owner”, the statement read.