The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, has stated that 67 million Nigerians have registered for the national identification number (NIN).
Pantami made the disclosure at a sideline event of the Paris Peace Forum titled ‘Nigeria International Partnership Forum’.
He stated that the NIN database was structured in a way that captures the data of people between 15-60 years first, noting that 92 percent in that category had been captured.
Pantami noted that the government places a premium on the NIN enrolment because it is the basis for the advancement of the nation’s economy, securing the country and protecting investors from fraudulent elements.
“With NIN enrolment, the identity of citizens and legal residents will be known and whosoever goes online, the identity will be known by the federal government and security institutions,” NAN quoted him as saying.
“You cannot open an account, process travelling passport, or a driver licence without obtaining NIN, and it has become a prerequisite to accessing government services and to bring peace of mind to prospective investors.”
READ A:LSO: Nigeria Earning More Money From Non-oil Exports – Osinbajo
Pantami stated that the enrolment had been made seamless as access to registration centres has been expanded from 1600 to 6000 — with one or two enrolment centres in every country for Nigerians in the diaspora.
He added that over 10 enrolment centres were created in the UK and USA to take care of the needs of many Nigerians in those countries.
Pantami also disclosed that in its efforts to address cybersecurity in the country, the government cleaned up the country’s database blocking over 24 million sim cards that did not meet proper registration requirements or were completely unregistered and could be used for cybercrime.
He said that Nigeria had also improved on its ranking in the global index on the ease of doing business.
“Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa with over $520 billion gross domestic product (GDP) followed by Egypt and South Africa and Nigeria has been consistent in dominating the first position,’’ he added.
