PEBEC Urges NIMC to Review NIN Integrated Charges on Passport Applications

Folalumi Alaran

The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) Secretariat has on Tuesday mandated the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to review the recently implemented fee of N1,000 for National Identification Number (NIN) integration and verification for each Nigerian passport applicant in an effort to expedite the process and reduce the cost of accessing government services.

In a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, Special Adviser to the President, Ease of Doing Business/PEBEC Secretary, made the call and stated that the additional payment for each applicant has not been well accepted by stakeholders.

“PEBEC has taken note of the recent announcement by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) on the introduction of a new charge of N1,000 for National Identification Number (NIN) integration and verification for each Nigerian passport applicant, with effect from April 1, 2023 and urges NIMC to review the new regulation through the lens of making it faster and cheaper to access government services.

“While the devised and agreed framework with the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) to significantly improve the quality of service, accuracy, and speed of passport services through the verification of NIN as stated by NIMC’s Head of Corporate Communications, Mr Kayode Adegoke, is a welcome development in response to the incessant difficulties Nigerians have experienced in recent times in their efforts to verify their NIN during passport registration process, the additional cost for each applicant has not been well received by stakeholders.

“Further to the provisions of the Business Facilitation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022 (BFA), which was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on February 8, 2023, codifying Executive Order 001 on transparency and efficiency of public service delivery, for the purposes of the “One Government” directive, where an applicant requires service from a ministry, department or agency (MDA), the MDA is mandated to conduct the necessary verification or certification from relevant MDAs, in respect of the applicant.

“On May 18, 2017, Executive Order 001 (EO1) on Transparency and Efficiency in the Business Environment was issued as the Administration’s first Executive Order to strengthen the implementation of business climate reforms and to deepen collaboration among ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) by instituting a systemic change management process for reforms. EO1 mandates MDAs to submit monthly reports to the PEBEC Secretariat, the offices of the Head of Service (HOS) of the Federation, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), and SERVICOM. You will recall that on March 9, the PEBEC released its 2022 Executive Order 001 (EO1) Compliance Report, in line with its promise to continuously track and keep the business community updated on the compliance with the Executive Order

“In the last six years, the PEBEC has consistently published an EO1 Compliance Report, which captures a periodic empirical analysis of the monthly reports received from MDAs. According to the latest EO1 Compliance Report which covers January to December 2022, the top five performing MDAs are the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) which emerged first at 81.11%; Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) (2nd, 78.68%); Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council (FCCPC) (3rd, 68.37%); Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) (4th, 64.59%); and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) (5th, 63.68%).

“In releasing the report, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business and Secretary to the PEBEC stated that “the codification of EO1 directives in the Business Facilitation Act 2022 is a major development in the efforts to entrench EO1 in the psyche of the Civil Service. It is expected that the legal provisions will serve as a stimulus for a more transparent and efficient public service delivery in Nigeria.”

“The PEBEC, chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo SAN, GCON, was established in July 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari to remove critical bottlenecks and bureaucratic constraints to doing business in Nigeria” reads the statement in parts