The Federal Government has made the National Identity Number a compulsory requirement for transactions such as the opening of bank accounts, payment of taxes, voter registration.
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, said this in Abuja while hosting the newly elected National Executive Council of the Association Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria on Thursday.
In his address at the meeting, Pantami told his guests that 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.”
He added, “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.
“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.”
