According to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Nigerians will begin to pay for the issuance of their national id card by 2022.
The information was revealed by the director-general of the NIMC, Aliyu Aziz, during the National Digital Identity Ecosystem Strategic Road Map for enrollment of Nigerians and legal residents into National Identity Database (NIDB) reform seminar held in Abuja on Thursday, January 31, 2019.
He said, “The National e-ID Card can only be issued to Nigerians registered into the national identity system and legal residents who have attained the age of 16 years and above but the national identification number (NIN) is assignable to Nigerians only”.
“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.
“Nations all over the world and in particular, developed countries have utilised 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.”
The director-general also assured Nigerians that upon the issuance of their national id cards, they will no longer be denied necessary government services.
He added that the National Identity Number (NIN) would be readily retrievable across all the mobile networks in the country using the code, *346# on the phone number used for the NIN registration.
Also dialling *346#, press two and inputting some registration details, would also produce the NIN number.
“Note that using this service attracts a N20 fee only deducted from your phone credit balance,” the NIMC boss said.
Aziz noted that the e-ID card will aid the merging of an already existing database with those of government institutions, allowing all Nigerians to receive a multipurpose ID card.
