The National Identity Management Commission has announced that it had commenced the National Identity Number enrolment of foreign diplomats in Nigeria.
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, had directed the NIMC to set up an enrolment centre for diplomats at the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja.
NIMC’s spokesperson, Kayode Adegoke, said in a statement issued in Abuja that the directive was in a bid to ensure seamless enrolment of all diplomats across the country for the purpose of the ongoing NIN-SIM linkage and other needs.
He said, “The enrolment of the diplomats started on Monday, 18th January, 2021.
“The NIMC wishes to assure members of the general public that all hands are on deck to ensure the enrolment of all Nigerians and legal residents into the National Identity Database.”
On January 17, 2020, the Federal Government announced that the NIN was mandatory for diplomats who reside in Nigeria, as well as for all other lawful residents across the country.
It stated that the enrolment centre for diplomats would provide support for members of the diplomatic corps and would be managed by the communications ministry through NIMC.
There had been calls for deadline extension on NIN-SIM linkage due to the large crowds that gather daily at the various offices of NIMC as many telephone subscribers had yet to get their NINs.
On December 15, 2020, the Federal Government declared that after December 30, 2020, all SIMs that were not registered with valid NINs on the network of telecommunications companies would be blocked.
It later extended the December 30, 2020 deadline following widespread opposition against the earlier announcement and gave three weeks’ extension for subscribers with NIN from December 30, 2020 to January 19, 2021.
It also gave six weeks’ extension for subscribers without NIN from December 30, 2020 to February 9, 2021, but many organisations had called for further deadline extension or outright suspension of the NIN registration process.
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