Nigerians to pay for national ID card from 2022, says NIMC

National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has said registration and issuance of national identity card would attract payment as from 2022.

Director-General, NIMC, Aliyu Aziz, made the disclosure at the Lunch Time Reform Seminar on “The National Digital Identity Ecosystem Strategic Road Map for the Enrolment of Nigerians and Legal Residents into the National Identity Database (NIDB)” organised by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR).

Aziz, who urged Nigerians to register for their identity cards within three years, said further registrations would attract an undisclosed fee.

He said that the electronic ID card can only be issued to Nigerians registered into the national identity system and resident citizens according to the constitution who have attained the age of 16 years and above.

Aziz stated that the National Identification Number (NIN) is assignable only to Nigerians.

The NIMC boss noted that the digital functions of the new national ID card were in compliance with developing countries where citizens’ identity and data is kept in an ecosystem.

According to Aziz, “Nations all over the world and in particular, developed countries have utilized identity as a foundation to transforming governance and enhancing service delivery in the areas of healthcare, agriculture, voting, transportation, financial inclusion, access to basic service and welfare programmes.”

“As a government, we recognise the huge importance of moving towards a Digital Government. Therefore, we must embrace and harness the potentials inherent in digital identity to build and develop our country.

He used the occasion to debunk claims that anyone without the National Identity Number (NIN) would be denied services at government institutions.

Aziz said the approval of the new digital identity ecosystem to collect citizens’ data using guidelines issued by the NIMC with secured channels of communication to generate the NIN was a prudent move by the government.