Index to Nigerian Newspapers

The Federal Government has shifted the NIN-SIM verification deadline from December 31, 2021 to March 31, 2022, to cover remote areas, diaspora, schools, hospitals and others. NCC and NIMC have set up 14,000 enrolment centres across the country to facilitate and fast track the verification process. NIMC has also set up enrolment centres in 31 countries to cater to the need of Nigerians in the Diaspora. The unprecedented growth in the National Identity Database to over 71 million unique NINs in such a short period reflects the concerted efforts of the Federal Government, the Nigerian populace and legal residents. The Federal Government has extended the deadline of the NIN-SIM linkage exercise to March 31, 2022, to consolidate the gains of the process and accelerate enrolment of Nigerians in key areas. The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isah Pantami, urged Nigerians and legal residents to enrol for their NINs and link with their SIMs during this period of extension. The Minister, the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, and the Director-General/CEO NIMC, Aliyu A. Aziz, thanked all Nigerians and stakeholders for their commitment and support.

The two chambers of the National Assembly have harmonised their positions and inserted the "consensus" mode of nominating candidates by political parties for elections in the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2010. The House suspended its rules and dissolved into the committee of the whole, presided over by the Chairman and Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, to unanimously adopt and harmonise the proposed law. The new version of the bill will be transmitted to the President in seven days. The Senate President has warned political parties against flouting provisions of the law, threatening that the erring ones stand the chance of not participating in the elections. Senate Leader Abdullahi Yahaya Abubakar sponsored a motion to rescind Clause 84 of the Electoral Act No.6 2010(Amendment) Bill, 2022 and committal to the committee of the whole. The Senate passed the Federal University of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Egbe, Kogi State Establishment Bill for second reading. Senator Smart Adeyemi argued for the citing of the university in Egbe on the availability of the "massive medical facility" at the 70-year-old Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA Hospital). ECWA Hospital was established in 1951 by the Canada-based Sudan Interior Mission (SIM)

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has denied any form of server breaches, saying its servers are fully optimised and certified to the ISO 27001:2013 Information Security Management System Standard. NIMC Director General Aliyu Aziz said the commission has gone to great lengths to ensure Nigeria's database is adequately protected, and assured the public that it will uphold the highest ethical standards in data security and ensure compliance with data protection and privacy regulations. The NIMC does not use or store information on AWS or any public cloud, and has made its app available to the public to eliminate challenges in accessing NINs. The public should be aware that possession of a NIN slip does not equal access to the National Identity Database, and that no licensed partner/vendor is authorised to scan and store copies of individuals' NIN slips.