Chaos at NIMC registration centres

The offices of the National Identification Management Commission (NIMC) across the country were besieged by Nigerian citizens scrambling for the compulsory registration for National Identification Number (NIN) imposed by the federal government. The rush for the NIN registration was compelled by the initial December 30 deadline declared by the government.

The rush for the NIN registration precipitated chaos at the NIMC offices as people were desperate to be attended to by the NIMC officials.  The emergent crowd defiled all COVID-19 protocols imposed by the federal government through the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19. The directive on social distancing was grossly abused while many people were without face masks.

The Federal Government had issued December 30 deadline to all telecommunications operators in the country to block all Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs) without National Identification Number (NIN).

However, at a meeting on Monday involving the National Task Force on NIN and SIM Registration in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the extended the deadline to January 2021. The meeting was chaired by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami. The meeting had approved three weeks extension for subscribers with NIN from December 30 to January 19, 2021. The meeting further made a resolution that registration for subscribers without NIN should be extended by six weeks – from December 30 to February 9, 2021.

In a statement at the end of the meeting, the Executive Vice-Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Danbatta, and the Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Aliyu Aziz, confirming the extension, declared:  “NIMC has provided strategies to enable citizens attend the registration in full compliance with COVID-19 protocols – particularly the use of facemasks which remains mandatory and maintenance of social distancing.

“The President appreciates Nigerians for their patience and commitment to updating their identities; the Federal Government also thanks all stakeholders for their compliance with the directives.”

The federal government encouraged all stakeholders to take advantage of the extension to link their SIMs with their NIN.

The government directed that the USSD and verification charges for linking SIMs with NIN must be suspended during the period.

Participants at the meeting included the heads of NCC, NIMC, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of MTN, Airtel, Ntel, Glo, Smile, and 9Moble.

Populist protests persist that the new deadline is inadequate to register over 130 million stakeholders for NIN. Some stakeholders argued for indefinite time lag, while others advocate a minimum period of six months.