Nigeria

NIN deadline: Nigerians react as FG fails to block millions of sim cards

Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 11:18 AM by Aanu Adegun

Nigerians have taken to social media to share their views following the federal government's failure to deactivate sim cards of those who have not yet linked their NIN to their mobile numbers.

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The reactions from Nigerians over the issue are currently trending on Twitter with many people daring and also lambasting the Buhari-led administration.

Recall that sometime last year, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) announced an extension in the deadline for incorporating National Identification Number (NIN) with SIM cards.

Specifically, it announced the following:

1. Three (3) weeks extension for subscribers with NIN from December 30, 2020, to January 19, 2021.

2. Six (6) weeks extension for subscribers without NIN from December 30, 2020, to February 9, 2021.

NIM deadline: Nigerians react as FG fails to block millions of sim cards — The federal government is yet to deactivate sim cards not linked to NIN. Photo: @NgComCommission
Source: Twitter

In his reaction, @wade_88 said that blocking of lines will cause many issues for Nigerians.

"What blocking of line would do, e transactions would suffer, simple transactions like debit/credit alerts would need us to physically go to the bank, increasing the risk covid-19 Microbe, stretching the already depleted healthcare system."

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@Gabafolayan wrote:

"Actually some of us have done our NIN but still refused to link it to our sims. Nigerians with " Do your worst mentality."

@abangdove also wrote:

"My own issue with this NIN registration is that, when NIMC eventually starts blocking sims, a good number of people who have successfully linked their NIN to their sims will still be affected.

"They’ll just have a different queue from the rest when they get to the centre."

@mroscarromero added:

"If you don’t want NIMC to block your sim, go and borrow airtime immediately."

@ayosogunro said:

"A government that couldn't ORGANICALLY get ALL its own federal and state civil servants (and their families) to register with NIMC really hoped to use THREATS to register all 180m of us and succeed?

"There is a serious lack of critical and creative thinking in this Buhari regime."

Recall that Legit.ng had reported that the federal government’s deadline requiring subscribers who already have National Identity Numbers (NIN) to link their data with their SIM cards expires today, January 19.