Buhari extends NIN linkage

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the extension for the linking of (NIN) with SIM registration records till May 6, 2021. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) last December instructed telecommunications operators within the country to deactivate all SIM cards not registered with NIN by the close of the year 2020.

However, this deadline was later postponed till January 19, 2021, and later then February 9, and so April 6, as uncountable of Nigerians complained about the rowdiness caused by the ultimatum.

With the April 6 deadline approaching, the NIMC announced on Friday, April 2 that Buhari has approved another one-month extension. The decision was made at the meeting of the ministerial task force on the data linkage on Thursday, April 1.

A joint statement by the NCC and also the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) said,“the request for the extension was presented to President Muhammadu Buhari and he endorsed it” .

During a media briefing on Thursday, April 1, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, disclosed that over 51 million people are assigned NIN, a notable improvement since December’s announcement.

The minister urged Nigerians to cooperate with the government to verify the functionality of a central database in an exceedingly  bid to upgrade national security.

Buhari extends NIN linkage