The deadline was later extended for three weeks following widespread opposition against the earlier announcement.
The Nigerian Government has announced the extension of the ongoing National Identification Number and Subscriber Identity Module integration exercise to April 6.
The Director, Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission, Ikechukwu Adinde, who disclosed this, said the extension was conveyed by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.
Pantami was said to have conveyed the message during the meeting of the ministerial taskforce on NIN-SIM registration which held on Monday.
The Nigerian government had on December 15, 2020 declared that all SIM cards that were not registered with valid NINs on the network of telecommunications companies would be blocked after the expiration of its deadline.
This had led to overcrowding at the offices of the National Identity Management Commission across the country as subscribers dreaded disconnection.
The deadline was later extended for three weeks following widespread opposition against the earlier announcement.
Another six weeks’ extension was added for subscribers without NIN from December 30 to February 9, but many organisations had called for further deadline extension or outright suspension of the NIN registration process.