*What is required to link SIM Card to NIN is simple, The DEFENDER told
*Agitation against govt directives unnecessary – Respondents
By KEMI KASUMU
“This thing does not require you to go and queue either at MTN or Airtel office. No. You are only simply required for instance, for MTN, to type *785#, send and then supply your NIN. Or these human rights groups and lawyers talking, are they saying they are complaining because they do not have NIN? Then should hold themselves responsible as unpatriotic citizens because, this NIN registration started 17 years ago and so, no one should have excuse of not having it,” he said.
Seventeen years after the National Identity Card registration was launched in Nigeria by the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo, an human rights group in the country has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to stop the process.
The rights group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), said President Buhari should stop the push for registration of Nigerians for National Identity Number (NIN), and withdraw the threat to block SIM cards upon expectation of the deadline.
In a statement on Sunday, it asked the President to “instruct the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Mr Isa Pantami, and Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission, (NIMC) Mr Aliyu Abubakar to stop the move.”
SERAP’s reason being that data of Nigerians being sought already exist in several platforms, including the Bank Verification Numbers (BVN), driver’s license, international passport, and voters’ card.”
But The DEFENDER reports that President Buhari made himself clear on what he would do with the NIMC he inherited on May 29, 2015 when he said he ordered harmonisation of all Nigerians’ data into a single system of National Identity Number (NIN) system.
The order at the time, our investigations revealed, attracted applause especially from most Nigerians who believed it was wrong for the country to exist without its managers being able to state how many people live in the country to enable them identify the number of visitors the most populous Africa’s nation receive from time to time.
Buhari said at that time it was unnecessary that data of citizens were scattered into different systems whereas, according to him, with NIN or National ID Card, any Nigerian should be able to access his ATM, BVN and so on.
SERAP in a statement signed by its deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare said, “No government has the right to strip its own people of their basic rights under the guise of registration for national identity number. If the authorities continue down this path, the threats to citizens’ rights such as the rights to freedom of expression and access to information, will inevitably increase, and the NIMC will remain a paper tiger.”
The group explained that instead of forcing Nigerians to register, threatening telecom service providers with sanctions, and exposing Nigerians to the risks of COVID-19, the Federal Government ought to make sure that the NIMC discharges its statutory functions to harmonise and integrate existing identification databases in government agencies, and make use of the information collected.
“The request for Nigerians to register for NIN is burdensome, unjustified, and unnecessary. It would end up serving no other purpose than to threaten and violate the rights of Nigerians, and create a ‘chilling effect’ on citizens’ ability to participate in the fight against corruption in the country, and thereby seriously undermining the government’s oft-repeated commitment to transparency and accountability.
“There is neither a pressing legal or practical need for this registration, which threatens Nigerians’ human rights, especially at a time your government is warning Nigerians about the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country,” the statement read in part.
SERAP said blocking Nigerians from using their SIM cards would amount to a “blatant violation of their rights to freedom of expression and access to information, and have a ‘chilling effect’ on the enjoyment of other human rights.”
The organisation also urged President Buhari “to instruct Mr Pantami and Mr Abubakar to take concrete measures to promptly ensure that the NIMC is able to faithfully and effectively discharge its statutory functions to harmonise and integrate existing identification databases in government agencies into the National Identity Database, and to use the information to update SIM card registration.”
They also the Federal Government to “indicate the measures being taken to stop the unnecessary registration of NIN and withdraw the threat to block SIM cards.”
SERAP also threatened to take legal actions to compel the government to implement these recommendations “in the interest of millions of Nigerians.”
The Federal Government last week issued an ultimatum to all telecommunications operators in the country to block all Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs) without National Identification Number (NIN).
It also ordered the network operators to ask all their subscribers to provide valid NIN to update their records and suspend SIM registration.
In February 2003, the Nigerian government, under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo launched a registration process for obtaining a National Identity Card. However, distribution of the cards did not begin until 2004. Those eligible to register included Nigerians aged eighteen years and older.
Simple thing about SIM Card, NIN link
The DEFENDER reports that the networks are already complying with the government directives as they make codes available, which ease the link of the SIM Cards with NIN by their respective subscribers.
A source said, “For instance, what the government has asked Nigerian subscribers of telecoms networks to do is simple. We all complain about insecurity and so, if government says one of the ways to tackle the menace is to have accurate data of citizens to monitor who enters and goes out of the country, what is the problem with that?
“That is why I laugh when I see that those who have complained against this move are same activist lawyers or groups who have been so loud demanding for good governance, accountability and security.
“This thing does not require you to go and queue either at MTN or Airtel office. No. You are only simply required for instance, for MTN, to type *785#, send and then supply your NIN. Or these human rights groups and lawyers talking, are they saying they are complaining because they do not have NIN? Then should hold themselves responsible as unpatriotic citizens because, this NIN registration started 17 years ago and so, no one should have excuse of not having it,” he said.
