Photo of Ibitoye Philip Ibitoye Philip
The Federal Government has extended the deadline issued to all telecommunication operators in the country to block all Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards without National Identification Number (NIN).
The development follows a meeting of the National Task Force on NIN and SIM Registration which held on Monday in Abuja.
The meeting, which was chaired by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, approved three weeks extension for subscribers with NIN from December 30 to January 19, 2021.
It also agreed that registration for subscribers without NIN should be extended by six weeks – from December 30 to February 9, 2021.
Executive Vice-Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Danbatta, and the Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Aliyu Aziz, confirmed the extension of the deadline in a statement issued at the end of the meeting.
“NIMC has provided strategies to enable citizens attend the registration in full compliance with COVID-19 protocols – particularly the use of facemasks which remains mandatory and maintenance of social distancing,” the statement read.
“The President appreciates Nigerians for their patience and commitment to updating their identities; the Federal Government also thanks all stakeholders for their compliance with the directives.”
Those who attended the meeting included major stakeholders in the sector, including the heads of NCC, NIMC, and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
The Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of network operators were also in attendance.
