51 million GSM phone lines in Nigeria do not have NIN – Chimaobi Agwu

More than 51 million GSM phone lines in Nigeria do not have or are not registered on the National Identification Number (NIN), according to figures released by the NCC and the NIMC

According to the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), as at 2020, the country had about 132 million devices connected to telecomm networks. “It is estimated that there were approximately 132 million unique devices on the telecommunication network in 2020”, said NCC.

However, the Nigeria Identity Management Commission has a total of 80.7 million people registered with NIN as at April 23, 2022, leaving the balance of 51.3 million GSM devices and numbers without NIN.

At numerous times, the NCC and NIMC have described Nigeria as a multi-SIM nation, with a unique NIN could having as much as an average of three to four SIMs connected to it.

Nigeria is among dozens of African countries including Ghana, Egypt and Kenya with SIM registration laws that authorities say are necessary for security purposes, but digital rights experts say increase surveillance and hurts privacy.

As a result of this concerns coupled with ignorance and unavailability of registeration centers in the rural ares and misinformation, these 51.3 million Nigerians have not registered their SIM cards

Nigeria has been rolling out the 11-digit electronic NIN for almost a decade, which record an individual’s personal and biometric data, including fingerprints and photo. The National Identity Number (NIN) is required to open a bank account, apply for a driver’s license, vote, get health insurance, file tax returns and own a phone number