From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act of 2007 must be reviewed for Nigeria to fully benefit from the fourth Industrial Revolution, the organisation’s Director General, Engr Abisoye Coker-Odusote has said.
Coker-Odusote made the remark on Tuesday in a statement issued by her Technical Adviser on Media and Communications, Ayodele Babalol.
The DG said that the national identification database, which forms the foundation of the NIMC Act, is essential to national security and permeates every facet of Nigerian society as a whole.
“The proposed amendment to the NIMC Act of 2007, is significant in helping the country realise the enormous benefits of the fourth industrial revolution.
“It is therefore imperative that the process of carrying out amendments to such an important legislation as the NIMC Act involves robust engagements of all critical stakeholders in the country, in our quest to reposition the NIMC for the future.” she stated.
The NIMC boss further noted that the proposed amendment was among a series of innovative and sustainable legal reforms being undertaken by the current administration of President Bola Tinubu through the Nigeria Digital Identification for Development Project, NDID4D.
She added that : “The reforms include amendments to the cybercrime and cybersecurity Acts, electronic transaction Act and the NPC Act. These are indications of the Federal Government’s commitment to implementing the ‘the Digital Transformation Strategy For Africa (2020-2030) commissioned by the African Union, which the President Chairs.”.
The DG, therefore, urged stakeholders to join hands with the NIMC to ensure that Nigeria’s national identity database is repositioned through sustainable reforms that will drive a holistic, sustainable and people-centered socio-economic development.
“This can only happen with everyone being enrolled and issued a verifiable National Identification Number (NIN) and no one is left behind,” she noted.