The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has so far registered 1.7 million people in Kaduna State, the commission’s coordinator in the state, Abubakar Hassan, has said.

Hassan who made this known in an interview with newsmen on Friday in Kaduna said the figure was however far below the eight million residents eligible for registration.

File: NIMC’s card

According to him, the commission has 62 enrollment centres across the state for the registration of all residents for the issuance of the National Identity Number (NIN).

The coordinator attributed the low figure to poor turnout of eligible residents for the registration.

He however disclosed that the commission had partnered the National orientation Agency (NOA) to sensitize the public on the importance of obtaining the National Identification Number, as part of measures to address the problem of low turnout.

” With the recent collaboration we have with NOA in sensitizing people on the importance of enrolling into the National Identity Management System, we hope to see an increased turnout of people in our enrollment centres.

“More centres are coming to ensure that all citizens and legal residents are registered,” he stated.

Hassan who explained that the NIN was mandatory for all citizens and legal residents of the country, and implored those who have not registered to do so as soon as possible.

He added that the slip given to those who were enrolled contains an Identification number which would enable the user to make any legal transaction.

NAN