Dr Isa Pantami, the minister said while receiving NIMC’s management team in his office in Abuja.

Mrs Uwa Suleiman, spokesperson for the Minister, said this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

Suleiman quoted Pantami as saying that there was need to raise the current enrolment level of the commission to hasten the process of providing digital identity for Nigerians.

He promised to work towards addressing some of the challenges militating against NIMC’s performance, especially inadequate funding.

Pantami directed the commission to set up complaint units in its centres across the county to ensure that the complaints of Nigerians were promptly addressed.

He also directed NIMC to interface more with Nigerians and to also run media awareness campaigns in different indigenous languages to encourage more people to obtain digital identity.

Pantami promised to interface with the commission regularly to reposition it for enhanced and efficient service delivery.

He commended NIMC Director General Mr. Aliyu Aziz for his commitment and passion, noting that there had been considerable increase in enrolments since he assumed office as the Chief Executive Officer of the commission.

“Nigerians should enrol for the digital identity. This is imperative because, the National Identity Number (NIN) will soon be made mandatory for accessing government services and interventions,” he said.

The post Ministry urges NIMC to raise digital identity enrolment by 500 % appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

The director-general was speaking during an interactive session with members of the media to commemorate the 2020 National Identity Day on Wednesday in Abuja.

The theme of the 2020 celebration was “Identity for Health, Sustainable Development and Growth”.

Aziz said the commission required additional four thousand (4,000) enrollment centres to effectively speed up the enrollment process.

He said, the commission currently had one thousand (1,000) enrollment centres which according to him was not enough to cover the population of the country.

Aziz, also informed the gathering that the idea behind the introduction of digital Identity Ecosystem was to enable government have easy access to accurate data of citizens for the provision of social services.

He said, through the system, the commission was working on modalities to capture 2.8 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) within two to three months.

The director-general however said, the commission was able collate 14 million data from other government agencies through its data harmonisation process.

Aziz also charged members of the public to report any act of extortion by members of staff of the commission especially during enrollment process.

He therefore used the opportunity to encourage Nigerians to come out enmass to enroll and obtain their national identity number (NIN).

“Our major focus now is the NIN because the card is for convenience” he said.

“With your full cooperation, participation and consistent support, we can bequeath a robust and sustainable system of national identity to our dear nation and future generations.

“If you are yet to enroll and obtain your National Identification Number (NIN), I urge you to do so as soon as possible,” he said.

The post 24m Nigerians so far registered on National Identity Database — NIMC appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

The Director General, NIMC, Mr Aliyu Aziz, gave the directive on Thursday in a statement signed by the General Manager Corporate Communications, Mr Abdulhamid Umar, in Abuja.

Aziz said that the aim of the exercise was to ensure that all applicants sitting for the 2020 UTME are provided with their National Identity Number (NIN) in line with the NIMC Act of 2007.

It was reported that the move is part of the collaboration between NIMC and Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), which had made the acquisition of NIN compulsory for applicants sitting for 2020 UTM Exammination.

“UTME and Direct Entry applicants are to be accorded special consideration in line with established Standard of the Enrollment processes that include capturing of the biometric and demographic data of any applicant before the issuance of the NIN.

”The exercise will also involve verifying the applicants at the point of UTME and Direct Entry registration.

”Where an applicant is below 16 years, such applicant will be required to provide the NIN of his/her Parent or Guardian.

”They must confirm that all information supplied to the enrollment officer on the applicant’s monitor in front of them at the point of registration is correct,” he said.

Aziz, therefore, advised parents and guardians to guide their wards in carefully filling the enrollment forms to ensure names and date of birth are registered correctly.

He also enjoined school authorities and local education secretaries to inform and educate parents and students on the importance of obtaining their National Identity Number.

The post NIMC to prioritise enrollment of 2020 UTME applicants appeared first on NEWSVERGE.