NIMC Restates Commitment to Provide Seamless Identification Services

Emma Okonji

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has restated its commitment to offer identification services to members of the public in accordance to the NIMC Act No 23 of 2007.

The commission, in a statement yesterday signed by its Head of Corporate Communications, Mr. Kayode Adegoke, said it would continue to enroll all Nigerians and legal residents for issuance of the National Identification Number (NIN), while providing authentication platform for the verification, validation and confirmation of the unique identity credentials issued.

According to the statement, “As part of ensuring excellent service provision and mitigating some challenges, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami recently secured the approval of the President, Muhammad Buhari, to upgrade the NIMS infrastructure and strengthen the capacity of the commission to deliver on its mandate.

“In the past one year, NIMC launched improved NIN slip with QR Code and MobileID app to ensure that alternative channels for identity verification are provided.

“These new channels put personal identity back in the hands of the ID holder and allows for easier and quick verification by simply scanning the barcode.

“All existing and prospective verification agents (all agencies of the Government and the private sector) are expected to utilize these available channels including the mobile web service (MWS) to verify the identities of their customers.”

The statement further stated that the recent reports of purported inability of Nigerian Immigration Services (NIS) to verify NINs of passport applicants has shown that these alternative verification channels are not being utilised to serve their teeming customers.

“It behooves on NIS to leverage these channels and the jointly agreed offline method for handling NIN verification requests for passport applicants.”

NIMC therefore reiterated that the improved NIS slip and mobile ID app were credible and reliable channels to carry out NIN verification services. With focus on the digital economy policy of the federal government, the commission said it would continue to offer innovative solutions for digital ID usage and seamless services to support identification for development.