Reps’ committee tasks NIMC on accurate population figure for Nigeria

The House of Representatives’ Committee on National Population and Identity on Monday tasked the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) on achieving accurate population figure for Nigeria.

The committee told the Director-General of NIMC, Mr Aliyu Aziz, that in-depth publicity of National Identification Number (NIN) registration to the general public would help the commission achieve its mandate.

Rep Aminu Isa Sani, chairman of the committee gave the charge during a visit to the NIMC headquarters in Abuja as part of its oversight functions.

A statement issued by the Head of Corporate Communications of NIMC, Mr Loveday Ogbonna, quoted Sani as saying that Nigeria as the most populous country in Africa needed accurate population figure for proper planning.

According to the statement, a member of the committee, Hon. Dickson Tarkighir noted that without an accurate figure “government at all levels cannot make plans and or implement policies effectively.

“There is no way the Nigerian government can plan effectively without knowing how many we are in the country,’’ Tarkighir said.

According to him, since the country has not been able to conduct another population census since 2007, NIMC is in the position to help solve the problem of providing accurate population figure.

He said “This is because NIMC has a Central Identity Database and also issues the NIN which is the unique identifier.’’

The committee urged the commission to strengthen its collaboration with partner agencies in enforcing the mandatory use of the NIN by January 2019.

The NIMC DG pleaded with the lawmakers to raise a motion on the mandatory use of the NIN for all services and transactions by both Federal Government and private organisations.