The Federal Government has approved the extension of the deadline for NIN-SIM data verification to July 26, 2021.  

The Director, Public Affairs Nigerian Communications Commission, Ikechukwu Adinde; and the Head, Corporate Communications, Nigeria Identity Management Commission, Kayode Adegoke, disclosed this in a joint statement on Monday titled ‘FG approves July 26 as NIN-SIM verification deadline as enrolment systems increase to 5,410 .’

According to the statement, the decision to further extend the deadline was made based on a request by stakeholders.

The statement read, “The Federal Government has approved the extension of the deadline for NIN-SIM data verification to the 26th of July, 2021. 

“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. 

“As at June 28, 2021, a total of 5,410 enrolment systems are now available across the country and this would significantly ease the NIN enrolment process and subsequent linkage of NIN to SIM.   It is worthy of note that there were only about 800 such enrolment systems as at December 2020.

“The Federal Government has approved the extension as part of its efforts 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 3 to 4 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 quoted the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa  Pantami, as thanking Nigerians for their patience and compliance with the Federal Government’s directive on the NIN-SIM registration exercise. 

It also quoted the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof Umar Dambatta; and the Director-General/CEO of NIMC, Aliyu Azeez, as urging citizens and legal residents to make sure they use the opportunity of the extension to complete the process of enrolment and verification.

THE President of the Ijaw National Congress, Prof. Benjamin Okaba, has said the rejection of the electronic transmission of election results by the National Assembly has exposed those who want Nigeria to remain backward and unworkable.

Okaba spoke in Yenagoa on Monday during the formal opening of the office of the National Spokesman for Ijaw Youth Council, Ebilade Ekerefe, as well as the commemoration of his one year in office.

He described the shooting down of the amendment bill as anti-democratic, retrogressive and pathetic, adding that fraudulent electoral processes had been the greatest challenge affecting the country from moving forward to the path of sustainable development.

Okaba, who teaches Sociology at the Federal University, Otuoke, said forces working against the country’s progress were at work to continually promote and protect their selfish interests.

The INC chief said, “Nigerians know that the day the votes of the people count and the choices of the people matter, a lot of things will change in this country and the key to having that is to have a transparent electoral process.

“But if people who got voted and had the mandate to change things for better in this country still feel that we should go analog, retrogressive; it is very pathetic.

“For me, it is another way of saying that many of the leaders are not good leaders in the first place because they are not prepared to lead this country to greatness. They are only there to serve their selfish purposes, their personal aggrandisement, personal interests and not national interest.”

He urged the nation’s leaders to take a cue from the INC’s election which was smooth and clean and the results electronically transmitted as voting was going on.

Okaba, who declared that Nigeria was on the edge of the cliff with the enemies of the country showing more impunity on a daily basis, called for the unity of the Ijaw people.

“In his remarks,  Ekerefe, said that the Ijaw youths would work with the INC to realise the Ijaw cause.