NIMC clarifies Immigration’s enforcement on national e-ID card

THE National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) on Thursday stated that the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) enforcement call does not say national e-ID card, but National Identification Number (NIN).

The NIS had on Wednesday pronounced that it would not renew or issue International Passport to anybody without the National Identification Number (NIN) starting from January 1, 2018.

The commission’s Head of Corporate Communications, Mr Loveday Ogbonna, in a statement issued in Abuja explained that the E-ID card and the NIN are two different tokens issued by the NIMC.

He said the NIN is issued to enrolees on a slip once your registration is completed adding that; “It is your main identity in the National Identity Database.”

While commending the new development, he said the commission had since commenced the process of harmonising demographic and biometric databases collected from relevant MDAs as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari through the office of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in 2015.

According to him, the enforcement of the use of the National Identification Number (NIN) by Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and other bodies requiring the verification of individuals’ identity in the country is pursuant to the official gazetting of the commencement of the mandatory use of the NIN as enshrined in section 27 of the NIMC Act.

“This stipulates that transactions, including applications for and issuance of an international passport; opening of individual and/or group bank accounts, all consumer credits; purchase of insurance policies; the purchase, transfer and registration of land by any individual; National Health Insurance Scheme; such transactions that have social security implications, registration of voters, payment of taxes, and pensions etc will be done only upon submitting of the National Identification Number (NIN),” he said.

“The commission, therefore calls on all Nigerians whom should be accompanied by their parents to use this period to visit any NIMC enrolment centre near them to enrol to avoid any delay of services due to lack of the National Identification number (NIN),” he added.