National Identity Number: NIMC insists on identification for enrolment

Abuja – The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) insists that only  people who posses a form of identification as Nigerians will be enrolled into the National Identity Number (NIN) project.

Mr Abdul-Hamid Umar, the NIMC Deputy Director of Corporate Communications, said in an interview on Firday that the measure was introduced to discourage abuse.

Umar said that all Nigerians were eligible to register for the NIN project but would, however, be required to present an identification such as the driver’s licence, International Passport or a certificate of origin before they would be registered.

“The reason we are insisting on identification is to ensure that only citizens benefit from the enrolment programme.’’

He said that more than 150,000 Nigerians had so far enrolled at the commission’s corporate headquarters in Abuja.

Umar said that five other centres in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were currently enrolling Nigerians in the pilot scheme of the project.

The deputy director, who could not provide figures for the number of people who had enrolled at centres participating in the pilot scheme, said one centre was also participating in the pilot scheme in Lagos State.

He further said that 22 other centres across Lagos State were undergoing renovation and installation of equipment for proper take off of the project in the first quarter of 2013.

Although a few people were seen at some enrolment centres in the FCT, most of them could not be captured due to power outage at the centres. (NAN)