By Favour Nnabugwu
THE Federal Government said 51 million Nigerians have so far completed their enrollment in the ongoing National Identity Number, NIN in the country
The Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, who disclosed this during the ministerial organized by the Presidential Media Team at the State House, Abuja, said 189 million Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) have been registered in the country.
The Minister said ut of the number, 150 million have completed registration while the remainder have problems of improper registration.
The Minister warned that those yet to obtain their NIN, risk seven or 14 years imprisonment as stipulated by the Nigerian Constitution.
He noted that while obtaining a SIM card maybe optional, NIN is mandatory, stressing that a lot of transactions in the country was not supposed to be carried out without NIN.
He explained that NIN will determine the total number of Nigerians that have registered because of the unique number.
He assured that in the next two years the administration would have a complete data base of every citizen and residents in the country.
He even said by law it was an offence for any one to collect pension or voters card without having the NIN.
Pantami said while owning a SIM card is optional, the NIN is mandatory as a lot of transactions are not supposed to be carried out without NIN.
The registration became mandatory following the federal government’s directive asking telcos to block sum cards that are not linked to NIN.
The federal government had extended the deadline to January 19, 2021, for subscribers with NIN to link it with their SIM, and February 9, 2021, for those without NIN.
The deadline has now been extended to April 6.
