NIMC, a must for all- federal Govt

FROM September 1, the National Identity Number (NIN)

shall become mandatory for all transactions involving the
identification of individuals in the country.
To that end, the National Identity Management
Commission (NIMC), which is in charge of NIN issuance,
has urged Nigerians to avail themselves the opportunity
of enrolling in the national identity database to get their
NIN.
In a statement , the NIMC General Manager,
Corporate Communications, Abdulhamid Umar, said the
agency has been advertising in some national dailies that
the use of NIN shall become mandatory all transactions
offered by applicable government institutions from
September 1.
According to the commission, these transactions,
pursuant to section 27 (1) and (2) of the NIMC Act, 2007
include application for, and issuance of International
Passport, opening of individual and/or group bank
accounts.
Also affected are all consumer credits, purchase of
insurance policies, purchase, transfer and registration of
land by any individual, National Health Insurance Scheme
(NHIS), such transactions that have social security
implications, registration of voters, payment of taxes and
pensions, among others.
“Consequently, any government agency/institution, bank,
insurance company and all other institutions offering
services and/or involved in transactions requiring the
identity of an individual must first demand for the NIN,”
NIMC General Manager, Inspectorate, Regulatory and
Compliance Services, Mrs. Hadiza Dagabana said.
“Any individual, institutions/body who fails to comply
with the above has committed an offence punishable
under section 28 of the NIMC Act.”
The commission urged citizens to appreciate the full
import of the NIMC mandate and understand that the
three-decades-old problem of identity management in
Nigeria has been fixed since 2012 by NIMC’s unique
identification infrastructure and the subsequent launch of
the National e-ID Card scheme in 2014.
On the importance of NIN, NIMC General Manager,
Information Technology/Identity Database, Chuks
Onyepunuka, explained: “Clearly, most people are unable
to appreciate the shift in paradigm from ‘Card Issuance,’
their familiar turf, to ‘Identity Management,’ the current
global trend, which explains why they insist on getting the
physical card even after they have been enrolled and
issued their NIN.
“NIMC is focused on establishing ‘foundation
identity’ (who you are) as the issuing authority for
Nigeria, while all other institutions, including the banks
and INEC, are focused on ‘functional identity’ (whether
you are eligible for a specific service).” Onyepunuka
emphasised that functional identities established
pursuant to various organisations’ databases, such as the
Bank Verification Number (BVN) and Taxpayer
Identification Number, among others, are not substitute
for NIN.
“Therefore, citizens must ensure that they are enrolled
into the National Identity Database (NIDB) by September
1, the effective date of commencement of the mandatory
use of NIN.”
The agency disclosed that there are about 404 enrolment
centres nationwide, and that cards were currently been
issued in the state offices across the nation and that the
Federal Capital Territory, adding that the exercise would
be hastened as soon as the commission scales up its
facilities and infrastructure.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/06/national-identity-