The Federal Government through the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, has said on Thursday that Nigerians without a National Identification Number (NIN) will risk 14 years prison sentence.
Pantami, who made this known at the weekly Presidential Media briefing organized by the Presidential Communication Media Team in Abuja, said 51 million Nigerians have enrolled for the NIN as of March 31.
While encouraging Nigerians to enroll for NIN, the minister warned that “those yet to obtain the NIN risk seven or 14 years imprisonment” as stipulated by the Nigerian Constitution.
He added that while possession of SIM cards may be optional, NIN is mandatory, adding that several transactions in the country are currently tied to NIN.
Pantami said: “Based on the requirement by law each and every citizen and legal resident must obtain his/her National Identification Number, which is being coordinated by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC). It’s a requirement by law but many citizens ignore it.
“What we achieved in the area of enrolment from the time Mr. President has directed me to supervise NIMC till date is unprecedented and we would continue to ensure that in the next few years we have almost a complete database of all our citizens in the country.
“No country will be successful in education, health, budget planning, or national planning without a database of its citizens in place.”
The NIN enrollment exercise will end on April 9.
