NIN Compulsory for Bank Accounts, Voter Registration – FG

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Obiajulu Joel Nwolu

Obiajulu Joel Nwolu is an established writer at africannewstoday.com. He is passionate about African affairs. He loves writing about interesting facts relating to the African continent and enjoys sharing his knowledge with others.

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The Federal Government on Thursday said that the National Identity Number, NIN, is compulsory for the opening of bank accounts, payment of taxes, and voter registration.

This was disclosed by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami in Abuja while hosting the newly elected National Executive Council of the Association Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria.

It came at a time when operators have urged the Federal Government to align with the development of a strategic plan to bridge the over N15tn infrastructure funding gap for the telecoms/information communication and technology industry.

Pantami in his speech assured the guests that the government was determined to ensure that all Nigerians had their various NINs.

He said, “This is most important 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 further stated, “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.”

In his address, the ATCON President, Ikechukwu Nnamani, said there had been progress in NIN registration and told his host that operators would work with the government to move the sector forward.

He also urged the full implementation of the Right-of-Way policy, as well as the need to address the issue of multiple taxation and other regulatory challenges in the space.