The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has refuted claims that its servers have been experiencing downtimes as Nigerians rush to telecom operators for National Identification Number (NIN) verification.
In a statement released on Thursday by the Commission’s Head of Corporate Communications, Kayode Adegoke, NIMC assured the public that its over 10,000 enrollment centers across Nigeria and abroad are fully operational.
The surge in NIN verification comes ahead of the September 15 deadline set by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for linking all SIM cards to NINs.
Recent reports had suggested that telecom operators were struggling to verify subscribers’ NINs due to repeated server downtimes at NIMC, causing delays in the process.
However, NIMC denied these reports, emphasizing that its systems are functioning smoothly and that services, including NIN enrollment, verification, and data modification, are being rendered seamlessly.
“NIMC wishes to inform the general public that National Identification Number (NIN) enrollment, verification, authentication, modification of data, and other services are ongoing without any issues to meet the NIN-SIM linkage deadline,” the Commission stated.
The Commission also reiterated that all of its enrollment centers are open to Nigerians and legal residents for NIN registration and issuance. Additionally, NIMC highlighted the availability of its self-service portal for those who wish to modify their NIN data.
The Commission reaffirmed its commitment to a zero-tolerance policy for extortion and unethical practices, reminding the public that NIN enrollment is free.
On August 28, the NCC confirmed September 14, 2024, as the final deadline for the ongoing SIM-NIN linkage exercise. As of now, over 153 million SIMs have been successfully linked to a NIN, representing a compliance rate of 96 per cent, a significant increase from 69.7 per cent in January 2024. Despite this progress, millions of lines are still pending linkage.
Data from March 2024 indicates that there are over 219 million active lines across the mobile networks of MTN, Globacom, Airtel, and 9mobile.