BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – The Federal Government has warned that Nigerians who fail to obtain their National Identity Number (NIN) risk seven or 14 years imprisonment.
This is as the government announced that as of March 31, 2021, more than 51 million NINs have been fully enrolled while 189 million Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs) have so far been registered.
The Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, who stated these on Thursday in Abuja, pointedly said that those who are yet to obtain their NIN, risk seven or 14 years imprisonment as stipulated by the Nigerian Constitution.
Pantami, who stated these at the 6th edition of the Ministerial briefings organised by the Presidential Media Team, at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, also said that while obtaining a SIM card maybe optional, the registration of the NIN is mandatory.’
The minister said that a lot of transactions in the country are not expected to be carried out without NIN including opening of a bank account, tax payment, among others.
