Inec Planning To Make NIN Compulsory For Voter Registration

The Independent National Electoral Commission is considering making the National Identity Number(NIN) a precondition for registering voters when the continuous voter registration exercise commences in a few weeks. A national commissioner at INEC disclosed. He said the NIN would help tackle challenges of underage voting, alien voting and other challenges associated with registration. He explained that the permanent voter card was only supposed to be in use for a maximum of 10 years, adding that most countries rely on a national database and not the Permanent Voter Card for voting. He said a final decision would soon be reached. Meanwhile, the Federal Government on Tuesday said the linking of NINs to subscribers identification modules would assist it in fishing out criminals. The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, said this in a statement in Abuja. According to the statement, the number of Nigerians, who have collected NINs, has increased to 47.8 million. Pantami advised Nigerians to protect their NINs, adding that subscribers should not sell their NINs or allow others to use them for registration. “For any action committed with the SIM good or bad it will be officially traced and attached to the NIN owners.”.