NIMC: Nigerians to pay for national e-ID card from 2022

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) says Nigerians will begin to pay for the issuance of national identity card in 2022.

Aliyu Aziz, NIMC director-general, made this known at the reform seminar on National Digital Identity Ecosystem Strategic Road Map for enrollment of Nigerians and legal residents into National Identity Database (NIDB) in Abuja on Thursday.

“The National e-ID Card can only be issued to Nigerians registered into the national identity system and legal residents who have attained the age of 16 years and above but the national identification number (NIN) is assignable to Nigerians only,” NAN quoted him to have said.

“As a government, we recognise the huge importance of moving towards a digital government, therefore, we must embrace and harness the potentials inherent in digital identity to build and develop our country.

“Nations all over the world and in particular, developed countries have utilised identity as a foundation to transforming governance and enhancing service delivery in the areas of healthcare, agriculture, voting, transportation, financial inclusion, access to basic service and welfare programmes.”

Aziz assured Nigerians that no one would be denied government services on account of not having the national identity number (NIN).

He said the NIN can be retrieved on all mobile networks using *346# and pressing one if the phone number enrolled for NIN registration is used.

He said the other option would be to dial *346#, press two and input some registered details.

“Note that using this service attracts a N20 fee only deducted from your phone credit balance,” the NIMC boss said.

According to him, the e-ID card will integrate existing identity database into government institutions and enable everyone to also receive a multipurpose ID card.