FG makes NIN compulsory for account opening, payment of taxes, voter registration

The Federal Government on Thursday said that the National Identity Number (NIN) is now compulsory for the opening of bank accounts, payment of taxes and voter registration in the country.

This was disclosed by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, during the visit of the newly elected National Executive Council of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria to his office in Abuja.

Pantami, while addressing his guests, said the government was determined to ensure that all citizens in Nigeria had their various NINs.

He said: “This is most importantly in the area of NIN, which is a mandatory number, based on the NIMC order of 2007 that has actively been neglected for years.

“It is key to our national planning, budget, security, social development and many more. But it was neglected despite being a mandatory number.

“So we’ve come up with so many policies trying to ensure that our citizens obtain the number. It is important beyond SIM registration. It is important for whatever you do because it is the primary identity of our citizens.

Read also: Nigerian govt mulls replacement of BVN with NIN

“There’s no identity that will define you as a citizen more than that number. It is mandatory. And it is mandatory for transactions such as opening bank accounts, paying tax, voter registration and many more.”

The minister further told his guests that Section 27 of the NIMC Act clearly stated that to partake and enjoy government services without the NIN was an offence, which could attract imprisonment as captured in Section 29 of same Act.

He however appealed to operators in the sector to work with the government in ensuring that all citizens in Nigeria had the NIN, in assisting that the number would benefit the country economically, as the contributions of the telecoms sector to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product would further increase.

Esyrlier, the ATCON President, Ikechukwu Nnamani, informed the minister that there had been progress in NIN registration, adding that operators would work with the government to move the sector forward.

The Federal Government had on December 15, 2020 said that all SIMs not registered with valid NINs would be blocked after December 30, 2020.

The deadline has however been extended twice, with the latest being by eight weeks.

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