Nigerian government insists on National Identity Number deadline
The Nigerian Government has insisted that is not ready to reverse its two week ultimatum for the registration and linking of National Identity Number (NIN) to mobile numbers, stressing that there won’t be extension for the deadline
Penpushing reports that, the Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission, (NIMC), Aliyu Abubakar, made the declaration on Friday, adding that there was no time for any complaint, rather to work towards how the exercise will work.
“Right now, the way it is, there is no extension. We should not be complaining, rather we should see how it can be done. It is until after 10 to 12 days then we will see how far it has gone before we beg the government for anything”,he declared
The National Identity Management Commission, (NIMC) on Thursday in a statement pegged the total number of licensed agents at 1,000, including the newly 173 private sector agents and 30 public institutions.
Penpushing further reports that, the breakdown of the newly licensed agents showed that 16 state governments were licensed, and they include; Abia, Akwa Ibom, Gombe, Lagos, Kaduna, Katsina, Kano, Oyo, Ogun, Sokoto, Delta, Ebonyi, Cross River, Adamawa, Zamfara states and branches of the Nigerian Postal Service across the nation.
The other licenced organizations are; Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Pension Commission, Central Bank of Nigeria (through the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems Plc), National Population Commission, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joint Tax Board and Nigeria Postal Services.
Penpushing also reports that in similar vein,other public sector organizations which approval for the licences include Military Pensions Board, Abuja Enterprise Agency, Corporate Affairs Commission, National Health Insurance Scheme, National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services and National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons.
The main mobile network operators in Nigeria, MTN, Airtel, Globacom and 9mobile are among the 173 private sector organisations licensed, while Etranzact, VDT Communications, Unified Payment Services were also successful.
Penpushing reports that, also licenced are seven Non-Governmental Organisations(NGOs): Africa Youth Growth Foundation, An Nadaa Educational Foundation Arrida Relief Foundation, Hadejia Ina Mafita Initiative Community Based Organisation Mimido Initiative & Development and Murna Foundation.
The records, however, have it that only about 43 million Nigerians have enrolled for their National Identity Number (NIN) since the inception of the commission in 2012 out of the over 208 million population of the country, while the population of unregistered citizens far outnumbers the approved office.
Penpushing further reports that, as at the time of filing this report, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) put the number of network subscribers at 207 million, showing that the number of Nigerians yet to enroll is between 164 million to 165 million.
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