NIMC’S Inability to Provide Applicants with Identification Number, Halts Passport Processing

Chinedu Eze

The inability of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to provide the National Identification Number (NIN) to Nigerians seeking international passport and renewal, is delaying the processing of passports, THISDAY investigation has revealed.

It was learnt that the development has left many passport applicants stranded and unable to obtain or renew their international passports.

NIMC, it was learnt, has put many Nigerians in this quagmire because it has been unable to repair or upgrade its server and associated equipment, which, broke down since last year.

It was learnt that NIMC has effectively stopped issuing identification number to Nigerians in all its offices nationwide as a result of its faulty server, which may have reached full load capacity, and now depends on few accredited agents of NIMC that have continued to register and issue NIN slip to Nigerians, most of whom are passport applicants.

THISDAY checks revealed that hundreds of applicants both in Nigeria and in the Diaspora are unable to renew their passports because they cannot obtain their NIN directly from NIMC’s offices.

THISDAY learnt that some Nigerians who returned to the country to renew their passports have become stranded because they cannot travel back with expired passport and it has become very difficult to obtain NIN, which the federal government insisted must be imbedded in the international passports.

Senior official of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Mr. D. C. Dotun, told THISDAY that what may delay applicants from obtaining their passports is their failure to obtain their NIN because it is a compulsory requirement for the issuance of international passport.

Dotun also said it is now easier to obtain international passports because NIS removed the hiccups that hitherto delayed issuance of passport.

“People go for their NIN registration and they must have their NIN before we can issue then passport because NIN has a place in the passport and it must be there before a passport will be issued to you. We have significantly improved in terms of the time it takes you to obtain your passport. Once an applicant submits his NIN and provides other requirements, we issue him passport,” Dotun said.

Another senior Immigration official described NIMC as a ‘curse’ to Nigeria and wondered why the agency would have equipment that lacked the capacity to contain the data of Nigerians and it still parade itself as data provider.

He regretted that some Nigerians did not know that NIMC is a different agency from NIS, as they tend to blame any infraction from NIMC on NIS.

“What we have decided to do is that any time they work and provide data we produce passports. Their system is always breaking down,” the Immigration official told THISDAY.

THISDAY investigation also revealed that NIMC has problem with its data centre and server equipment.

NIMC sources volunteered that the management failed to buy a new equipment budgeted for, but rather chose to acquire refurbished equipment, which has failed to deliver efficient service since the acquisition.

“They have issues with their data centre, and that is where they warehouse their data system. So, their data centre is always having a downtime. You cannot browse their system. They have connectivity with Galaxy Backbone, a government agency that provides connectivity services. Maybe they bought bad equipment; so, their equipment is malfunctioning or may have malfunctioning operating system. Maybe it is outmoded and does not dovetail with new system, which means they will have to upgrade,” an insider told THISDAY.

When contacted for comments, the Public Affairs Manager at NIMC, Mr. Kayode Adegoke requested that question be put in writing and sent to him through WhatsApp, but refused to respond to the questions.

A top Nigerian airline operator who wanted to renew his passport told THISDAY that he had gone to NIMC offices in Lagos and requested to apply to obtain his NIN but was unable to do so.

He was told that the only way he could obtain the NIN was if he would travel to the NIMC head office in Abuja because the agency’s server is down.

“I am at the fourth place in Victoria Island. I don’t have any hope that I will get it, but you know that in Nigeria, we fast and pray. The NIN has to do with capture. Without the NIN you cannot be captured in the passport office. I have been on this for the past three months. It is that bad. They just told me that in Abuja they could do a direct one, which will not pass through the server. This means that if you want to obtain your NIN you have to go to Abuja from different parts of the country.

“One of the officials told me in confidence that they have bad equipment. That they bought second-hand equipment that is under capacity. They are trying to upgrade it by attaching other equipment on it. It is old and may not meet the current ancillary equipment for it to work efficiently. But this is what they should say, instead of telling lies and promising that it would get better. I went there by 10 am (Wednesday) and I left there by 2:40 pm without getting the NIN. Nobody is coming out straight to talk to us and tell us what the problem is. When you go to buy second hand equipment, what are you expecting? I do not blame those working at the NIMC offices here. They were not involved in the acquisition of the equipment,” he said.

THISDAY also learnt that in the NIS offices in Nigeria, many applicants are stranded because they cannot obtain their NIN.

“The major problem we have is that we do not know when this problem will end. NIMC is not coming out to say, what they are doing to solve the problem. I have gone to their office. The staff members also complain bitterly that they have been idle since last year doing nothing. To me, that is the epitome of complacency. They do not feel the obligation they have with the people. In fact, I began to ask myself, why did government make NIN compulsory in our passport? They should have found out first whether the people there were ready,” a disappointed applicant told THISDAY.

Formerly known as the Department of National Civic Registration (DNCR), the National Identity Management Commission has been beset with many problems that it failed to meet its mandate to provide National Identity Card for more than 200 million Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora.

But in the last few years, NIMC seemed to have improved. By the end of 2022, the agency said it had registered about 92 million Nigerians who now have their National Identification Number (NIN).