Enrolment is free of charge, beware of fraudsters – DG NIMC

Aliyu Aziz, the director-general of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), has said that the national identity enrolment is free of charge and Nigerians should beware of fraudsters.

Aziz stated this during his keynote speech at the Inclusion for all (I4ALL) dialogues event in Lagos on Wednesday.

“Some Nigerians complained that they were being charged a certain amount of money before they could be enrolled,” adding that those fraudsters are only exploiting them.

“As of July 26, 2023, the national identity database base has over 101 million records and NINs that have been issued.

“When we reached the 100 million, we analysed the data and realised that we have covered 90 percent of the adults in Nigeria and only about 10 percent of the adults that are remaining.”

“With over 100 million there are only 44 percent of women that are registered compared to men that have a higher percentage,” he said.

At the event, he further discussed NIN enrolment progress in Nigeria, challenges faced, and approaches to overcome them vis-a-vis data evidence.

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According to him, one of the major legal challenges includes the signing into law of the National Data Protection Bill by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the month of June. 2023, this bill has been on the ground for the past five years.

Also, the infrastructure faced under the project is being handled through the facility received from the three development partners namely the World Bank, the French Development Agency, and the European investment bank, Aziz said.

Picking excerpts from the Inclusion for all (I4ALL), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) study, Aziz said “The barriers to NIN enrolment remain consistent, bordering largely on the cost of transportation and distance to enrolment centres and tedious enrolment processes.”