Pantami

The minister of communications and digital economy, Dr Isa Pantami has said that only 51 million Nigerians have enrolled for National Identification Number (NIN) as of March 31, 2021.

Speaking at the sixth edition of the ministerial briefing by the presidential media team at the State House, Abuja, the minister also disclosed that there was no plan to lift the ban on Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card registration.

He also put the number of SIM card subscribers at over 150 million.

He explained that while 51 million completed their NIN registration, the remaining 99 million had problems of improper registration.

He warned that those yet to obtain their NIN risk being jailed for seven or 14 years as stipulated by law.

According to him, while obtaining a SIM card may be optional, NIN is mandatory, citing section 27 of the NIMC Act of 2007, adding that it is a criminal offence in Nigeria to carry out business activities without first acquiring the NIN number.

“Clause 27 of the NIMC Act states that you need the NIN number for opening bank account, for insurance, land transactions, voters registration, drivers license. So, it is an offence to transact any business activity without first having your NIN,” he said.