By Chinenye Anuforo
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), on Wednesday, said it has distributed more computers across its state centers to speed up the process of enrollment for the National Identification Number (NIN).
The Commission, in a statement, quoted the NIMC Director General, Abisoye Odusote- Coker, as saying that the distribution of additional enrollment systems to all the states was part of the steps to ease NIN enrollment challenges and increase operational capacity.
NIMC said: “The systems have since been installed and in use across all the states and have not only resulted in the reduction of time spent by applicants but have also increased the number of applicants attended to daily.”
The statement added that the DG also sent out monitoring and evaluation teams across various centers nationwide to ensure a smooth running of enrollment and modification exercises. “The team will also ensure strict compliance with her zero-tolerance stance against all forms of extortion and unethical practices.” Coker-Odusote had emphasized that her administration will not condone extortion of applicants and has since directed that any staff found wanting will be dealt with in line with the provisions of the constitution and extant Public Service Rules.
According to the statement, the DG also requested that any applicant extorted should report such incidents to NIMC’s official channels.
With over 200 million population, the enrollments for the NIN stood at 104.16 million at the end of 2023, according to data released by NIMC. This shows that the NIN database has been growing but at a slow pace.
The NIMC data shows that a total of 10.13 million NINs were issued throughout last year. As of December 2022, the NIN database stood at 94.03 million.
Despite a World Bank target of 148 million by June 2024 less than six months from now registration for the NIN has been slow.
However, with the recent appointment of a new Director-General, NIMC said it has started working to accelerate the issuance of the digital identity token in line with the renewed hope mandate of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.