The Director General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Aziz Aliyu, says the agency has so far registered 56 million Nigerians with their national identity number (NIN).
Aliyu stated this yesterday at the Batch 10 launching of the national digital economy policy and strategy (NDEPS) projects for digital economy, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
In December, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had directed Nigerians to get a national identity number and submit to their network operators.
It recently extended the NIN and subscriber identity module (SIM) integration exercise till June 30.
The NCC recently clarified that foreigners residing or employed in Nigeria for less than two years are exempted from the mandatory NIN and SIM integration exercise.
The National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (2020-2030) focuses on eight pillars — to provide a catalyst to facilitate the diversification of the economy; and accelerate the attainment of the critical national objectives of improving security, reducing corruption and expanding the economy.
On May 4, a joint statement from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and NIMC put the registration figure at 54 million Nigerians. The statement also added that an estimated 190 million mobile numbers had integrated their SIM to NIN.
Aliyu said the commission registers at least two million Nigerians monthly.
“As of today, NIMC has been able to register 56 million Nigerians with their NIN, and that has been possible since Dr Isa Pantami took over as Minister of Communications and Digital Economy in October 2020.
“We register at least two million Nigerians monthly, which is a good effort toward the digital economy agenda,’’ he said.