THE Presidency has directed all individuals yet to enrol for the National Identification Number (NIN) to comply before January 2016.
Office of the Presidency in charge of identity management, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), disclosed that it would enforce use of the NIN by citizens to conduct certain transactions in line with Section 27 of the NIMC Act 2007.
NIMC had earlier set September 1 as deadline for the NIN registration until President Muhammadu Buhari directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to hasten harmoniation of their biometric databases with the commission.
In a statement issued by NIMC General Manager, Corporate Communications, Abdulhamid Umar, on Monday in Abuja, the extension was in line with the president's instruction.
He stated that it was expected that with the planned harmonisation which would link all MDA biometric databases including Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Federal Road Service Corps (FRSC), Pension Commission (PenCom), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Joint Task Board (JTB), National Health Insurance Commission (NHIS), Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FAMRD), among others, citizens will not be required to have their biometrics taken every time by these institutions in the near future.
The statement reads: "Issuing authority for National Identification Number (NIN), the NIMC has shifted the date for the commencement of the mandatory use of the NIN from September 1, 2015 to January 9, 2016.
"The commission had earlier directed that all transactions involving the identification of individuals as specified in Section 27 of the NIMC Act must be done with the NIN beginning from September 1, 2015.
"The extension would enable the commission progress further, ongoing efforts with the MDAs that have reached advanced stages of harmonisation with NIMC including the CBN, FRSC, FIRS, PenCom, INEC, NHIS, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD).
"This would help avoid the situation similar to what was experienced when the CBN wanted to enforce the cut-off date for the BVN, leading to a late rush to meet the deadline/massive turn out of citizens and the troubles they had to go through. It would also help ensure that the need for double enrolment is reduced to the barest minimum during this transition period when the harmonization is being implemented.
"Furthermore, management has taken into consideration the fact that the CBN had extended, by a few months, the deadline for the completion of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) exercise, thus extending the time frame for the completion of the harmonization it has begun with the CBN on the BVN programme."
Accordingly to the commission, a special task force has been set up by the management to ensure faster distribution of the cards by increasing the number of card collection centres by 300
Source : Nigerian Tribune
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