The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has assured payment of its outstanding payment owed to its Front-End Partners (FEPs) for a period of two years within the first quarter of 2024.
The Director General of the Commission, Engineer Abisoye Coker-Odusote, who gave this assurance in a statement issued in Abuja and made available to Tribune Online, also expressed her sympathy with the FEPs who have been burdened with running their businesses for two years without payment.
“The National Identity Management Commission, under my leadership, has conducted a revalidation exercise to review the outstanding payments which the new management inherited with a view to offsetting the debt after going through due audit process to validate the claims made by the FEPs.
“In the process, we found out that some of the invoices submitted by the FEPs did not tally with the enrollment figures shown on the database, thus prompting the revalidation exercise to confirm the true and accurate enrollment information.
“Notwithstanding, we are wrapping up the audit process, and the activation of the FEPs will be done according to the outcome of the validation exercise. We sympathise with our partners over the delay and appeal for understanding, especially as the new NIMC management is just a few months in the saddle and had been working on resolving all inherited debts.
“Unfortunately, the previous management could not clear the outstanding dues because of lack of funds but we are working hard to source the funds to clear the debt.
“I therefore use the opportunity to reiterate that the revalidation exercise was aimed at sanitizing the system as well as ensuring efficient and effective enrolment processes in line with international best practices of securing citizens’ data,” the statement read.
The Commission also assured concerned Nigerians that payment will be made to the Front-end Partners in the first quarter of 2024 and added that there are plans to hold a stakeholders engagement summit this month.