By Williams Anuku, Abuja
Dr Isa Pantami, Minister of Communication and Digital Economy has warned that those yet to obtain their National Identification Number (NIN) risk seven to14 years imprisonment as stipulated by the Nigerian Constitution.
According to him, while obtaining a SIM card may be optional, NIN is mandatory, citing section 27 of the NIMC Act of 2007.
He warned that it is a criminal offence in Nigeria to carry out business activities without first acquiring the NIN number.
“The NIMC Act clause 27 states that you need the NIN number for an opening bank account, for insurance, land transactions, voters registration, Drivers Licenses.
“So, it is an offence to transact any business activity without first having your NIN.”
Pantami also explained that the Federal Government has no intention to lift the ban on new subscriber identification module (SIM), registration any time soon for security reasons.
He said when it comes to addressing the issue of security, the economy takes backstage, insisting that SIM registration carried out in the past compromised the system.
The Minister made these statements on Thursday, at the sixth edition of the ministerial briefing by the Presidential Media Team, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said: “The ban on new sims remains in place for security reasons. We know this ban is painful but very necessary. In the past, the sims registration process were compromised, most of the sims were improperly registered hence we have most of the sims used to commit crimes in the country. So what we are doing now is matching all the sims with NIN this has become necessary for security purposes.”
He added: “The ban may affect our economy, but when addressing the issue of security, the economy takes backstage.
“People used the biometrics of one person to register about 100 sims after people are given money, this is even as some SIMs were improperly registered.
“This is one of the most difficult decisions taken as a Minister. It is a very painful decision, but we had to take it.
Pantami also put the number of SIM card subscribers linked to NIN at over 150 million, adding, however, that enrollment of NIN is 51 million, as of March 31, 2021.
He explained that while 150 million have completed registration while the remainder has problems of improper registration.
Pantami also added that the number of enrollment Centre has doubled; while the number of computers has been tripled.
He explained that NIN will determine the total number of Nigerians that have registered because of the unique number.
Pantami further noted that the cost of data provided by telecommunications companies has been halved since last year from about N1,200 per gigabyte to less than N500 now.
He, however, blamed some State Governors for the high cost of data production by inflating the charges telecommunication firms pay State governments for the right of way in installing their cables.
“Some states charge as high as N60,000 per linear meter whereas it should not ordinarily be more than N145”, he said.
Pantami said he had engaged the Governors through the Nigeria Governors Forum and pleaded with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to intervene in the matter; stressing that if the anomaly is corrected fully, the GSM and telecom firms companies will produce even cheaper data.
Speaking on the performance of the ministry in 2020, the Minister said but for the ICT sector, Nigeria would not have been able to exit the recession occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He stated that within the period under review, the ICT sector grew more than 0.9% of the economy maintaining that the growth in the ICT was key to the successes recorded in the economy.
