The National Identity Management Commission says it is upgrading its website for optimum performance as many Nigerians jostle to obtain their National Identity Numbers.

It also said the site, nimc.gov.ng, did not crash, adding that the site would be restored today (Tuesday).

The Federal Government through the Nigerian Communication Commission had last week ordered telecommunications companies to deactivate telephone lines of subscribers who failed to link their phones to their NIN within two weeks.

Thousands of Nigerians had trooped to NIMC offices all over the country on Monday for their NIN registration, thereby flouting the Covid-19 protocol put in place by the government.

The development forced the NIMC to shut down its offices in most parts of the country on Monday.

The government later bowed to pressure by extending the deadline to January 19, 2021 for subscribers with NIN and February 9 for those without NIN.

But many Nigerians who rushed to the NIMC website have been left stranded due to server downtime.

“More users will be able to be on the site per time. It will also be able to accommodate more information. Information security is key. The site will be back today.”

The NIMC also said it would adopt a number-issuing style as it reopens its centres nationwide from Tuesday to ensure effective crowd control.

As of October, the total number of mobile network connections was 207.58 million, but currently, only 43 million Nigerians have NIN, thus 164 million telephone users are at the risk of being deactivated on December 31.

According to the NIMC, the NIN is used to tie all records about an individual into the National Identity Database and is also used as a valid means of establishing or verifying individual identity.