By Emmanuel Elebeke

The National Identity Management Commission, NIMC is to roll out a multi-purpose biometric identity Card. 

The Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Dr. Abisoye Coker Odusote disclosed this on Friday at a press briefing on improved NIN Card in Abuja.

She said the new improved identify number is in line with NIMC mandate to enroll Nigerians and issue them a general multiple postcard.

Beyond fulfilling NIMC mandate, the new card program, aims to address multiple use cases of federal government and private sector interventions and also targeted at addressing social and economic issues in the country, with the payment functionalities and identity as a foundation.

The key features of this card, are the biometric, based on the fingerprint, which is the only one that is currently unique; the card issue has a long validity period because it’s also a fully KYC enabled; it has an offline and online capability, which means in locations where there are limited access to internet, this card will still work and be used for those services that it’s designed to achieve. And you can meet out cash, digital token, wallet, and email and it also has some banking details inside the chip that enables the holder to perform every other thing that can be done with ENV-enabled card.

On the back, the card provides additional functionalities which enables Nigerians and those who are going to have access to it to be able to prove their identity at any point in time they are called to do that.

The NIMC CEO further explained that the new multi-tasking card also facilitates the inclusion of citizens in the social and economic activities in the country.

“The biometric NIN-Enabled card facilitates social, economic, and financial inclusion in line with President, Bola Ahmed Tunibu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

The program is meant to facilitate giving hope to Nigerians, providing support to Nigerians so that we know that Nigeria is a good place to be.

“The program, as mapped  out in the NIMC’s roadmap is to focus on issuing this biometric NINE-Enabled card, tailored to address various use cases, aligning it with Mr. President Directive on Mandatory Use of NIN, and in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda. 

“We are currently focusing on these two programs, which is providing internationally acceptable verification platform that enables Nigerians to affirm their identity any time they are called or they are required to do so, through a token, a biometric  card provided by NIMC. The card also has capabilities to address both offline and online capabilities, which means if you meet a Nigerian anywhere that has a card and you need to verify the person, the person can verify instantly,” she said.

The second program of the card, called the Government of People card, G2P, addresses the current need for government and its agencies, and even private sectors, to be able to identify people that are providing such services in a very secure and verifiable manner.

This is expected to take care of challenges in terms of identifying the people who participate in government intervention programs. 

On the cost, she assured that the card would be made available to Nigerians at affordable cost, assuring that will not affect it.

In this project, NIMC is partnering with AFRIGO,  a local and indigenous card scheme to provide these ENV functionalities.

With collaboration of key partners, NIMC is driving the card and identification process, providing reliable  data base for government, social and economic services.

Odusote said the newly designed biometric card is designed to uplift 133 million Nigerians out of poverty and provide seamless services.

Providing an overview of the project, the Director of Card Management team, Dr. Peter Iwegbu said the CBN had given its endorsement to the agency and  to a card company, which is AFRIGO Financial Services, which manages their card business. 

In terms of benefit to the citizens, the card will provide instant evidential identification; it’s a 3-in-1 card, access to government services, self identification yourself and access to financial transactions.

The card also provides opportunity to track people and identify them and verify them without having to wait for any electronic devices. 

For the benefit to government, he said that the initiative promises to enhance digital economy, enabling government  to provide services and bring a lot of people who are economically and socially disconnected into the digital economy.

AFRIGO is a subsidiary of the Nigerian Interbank settlement system launched by CBN in 2023 as a domestic card scheme to provide cost-effectiveness as well as transparency in card payments, which is really important to underline transparency as well as cost-effectiveness. 

Dr. Peter said the Federal government is looking at launching the card very soon just as all government services have been programmed to be on the card.

On the roll out plan, the Managing Director of AFRIGO, Ebehijie Momoh, described  the improved ID as phenomenal coming to revolutionise the Nigerian  Identify System. “We are enabling the G2P ecosystem where different NDAs and even state governments are partnering with us and NIMC and other partners to issue this G2P card to the otherwise excluded and vulnerable segments of the population so that they can participate effectively. With this new card, the government can identify them and support them more efficiently.

“We are activating the national ID card to meet the needs of the middle and top who will require a bit more sophistication in terms of the card. And these are people who will make requests for it because they have a need for it and then we can provide them for them. We are also going to do virtual cards. These virtual cards are digital versions of the card which people can download into their smart devices. Those who don’t want to carry a physical card can download into their devices and continue to use them for their authentication, whatever they want to do with it,” he said.

Meanwhile, the NIMC boss said the Commission has so far enrolled 115million persons in the ongoing enrollment process.