Over 51 million Nigerians have registered for the National Identity Number (NIN). The Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami, announced this on Thursday at the Presidential Media Team’s weekly ministerial briefing at the presidential villa in Abuja.

He claimed that NIN enrollment is not optional, but rather mandatory, and that failure to enrol forbids defaulting people and residents from fulfilling tasks, such as accessing banks and communication facilities. He also cautioned that failure to procure the NIN could result in between seven and fourteen years in prison, as stipulated by the Nigerian Constitution.

He says that, rather than a demographic census that can be skewed, NIN can decide the right number of Nigerians due to its uniqueness and tamper-proof existence.

He also disclosed about 189 million Subscriber Identification Module (SIMs) have been registered in the country, explaining 150 million, out of this number, are completed registration while the remainder has problems of improper registration.