In a statement on Saturday, the NIMC confirmed the problem, which is attributed to ongoing maintenance.

“The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) wishes to inform the general public that its NIN verification Service (NVS) is temporarily unavailable due to the maintenance service being carried out by one of the Commission’s network service providers,” the statement said.

“The NIMC wants to assure the public that verification and authentication services would be restored once the maintenance is concluded.

“The Commission apologizes for any inconvenience this might cause our esteemed customers, as all hands are on deck to ensure speedy restoration.

“Meanwhile, the public can make use of the alternative Tokenisation verification platform.”

The affected NIMC portal allows third parties to confirm the identity of customers.

Apart from telecoms firms, financial institutions and government agencies also rely on the service.

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Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, made this known through a statement jointly signed by Ikechukwu Adinde, director of public affairs at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Kayode Adegoke, Head of Corporate Communications at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

According to the statement, the extension was granted after a virtual meeting between Pantami, Adeolu Akande, NCC chairman; Umar Garba Dambatta, executive vice president of NCC, and Aliyu Azeez, Director-General of NIMC.

This development is coming two days before the May 6 deadline earlier announced by the Federal Government, making it the fifth time the NIN-SIM linkage exercise will be extended.

The Federal Government said it has registered 54 million Nigerians with an estimated 190 million mobile numbers have obtained their NIN.

It said the extension was granted based on stakeholders’ requests and to give Nigerians more time to engage in the exercise.

“The postponement of the deadline was also based on the request by stakeholders for an extension till 30th of June in order to make it easier for all citizens and legal residents to register,” the statement said.

“Significant progress has been made in the NIN-SIM verification process. For example, almost 54 million people have obtained their NIN and this can translate to up to 190 million mobile numbers, since empirical evidence suggests that each unique NIN maps to 3 to 4 phone lines.”

The government said NIN is important for accessing public services in line with sections 27 and 29 of the NIMC Act, 2007.

It said it is similar to the social security number and the national insurance number in the United States and the United Kingdom respectively.

“The much awaited Android enrolment system is now ready for deployment and this has the potential to significantly accelerate the speed and ease of enrolments,” it said.

“Furthermore, the telecom providers and other enrolment agents have also opened several centres across the country to make it easier for eligible citizens and residents to obtain and link their NINs.

“The Federal Government has approved the extension as part of its effort to make it easier for its citizens and residents to obtain the NIN and it is important to take advantage of the extension.

“Dr Pantami wishes to thank Nigerians for their patience and compliance with the Federal Government’s directive on the NIN-SIM registration exercise. He again reiterated government’s commitment to continually taking decisions aimed at easing the pains of the citizens with regard to issues related to NIN and SIM registration.”

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Director, Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission, Ikechukwu Adinde, and Head, Corporate Communications, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Kayode Adegoke, disclosed on Tuesday morning.

The statement said the new deadline is now April 6, 2021.

See the statement below.

The post FG Extends NIN SIM Linkage Deadline By 8 Weeks appeared first on Daily Dates Nigeria.

According to MTN’s Senior Manager, External Relations, Funso Aina, the Mobile telecommunication company has started registering people for the NIN at some of its centers in Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Abuja.

MTN assured that the number of locations would increase with time, noting that MTN had invested in acquiring devices aligned with NIMC standards.

Aina said: “We have commenced enrollment for NIN at a limited number of locations.

“This number will rise as certification and other dependencies on the Nigerian Identity Management Commission for the roll-out of such locations are addressed.

“We have applied for and secured NIMC license for enrollment. Additionally, we have invested in acquiring devices aligned with NIMC standard.”

“We continue to work with NIMC, NCC, and other stakeholders towards resolution of issues which are outside our control, but are nevertheless key dependencies for further roll-out.”

Meanwhile, the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, has also assured that every operator would start NIN enrollment soon.

Adebayo disclosed that operators had commenced preparatory arrangements in regard of procurement, licensing, and deployment.

He said: “There are still administrative issues that are now being concluded.

“There were procurement issues which were taking a little bit of time to start, but once operators start, we’ll ensure that the enrollment would commence and be wrapped with full speed.”

The post NIMC: MTN Begins NIN Registration In Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt appeared first on Daily Dates Nigeria.

The commission in a tweet wrote that fraudsters may use such apps to harvest people’s NIN and Bank Verification Number.

“The app was not created by NIMC or the Federal Government of Nigeria. It is run by fraudsters who are currently harvesting people’s NINs and BVNs by default,” NIMC said.

NIMC, therefore, advised people to protect their data and stop disclosing personal information to unauthorised platforms.

Meanwhile, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, had on Monday morning said NIMC has launched a mobile app to link seven SIM cards to one NIN.

Pantami who spoke during an interview said his Ministry: “…developed an app, when you go online, you will see it. That app, as long as you have your NIMC number, you will only download it without visiting any office.

“You will be able to link up to seven SIM numbers to only one. I have already downloaded the app, launched the app, and already linked some of my numbers immediately. This is part of digitalisation.”

The post NIN Registration: Be Careful Of Fake Apps – NIMC appeared first on Daily Dates Nigeria.