NIMC Promises December 31 Deadline For the Registration of Nigerians

Senator Iroegbu and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
The Director General, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Mr. Chris Onyemenam, has promised that all eligible Nigerians will be registered for the National Identification Number (NIN) by December 31, 2014 as directed by  president Goodluck Jonathan.

Onyemenam disclosed this yesterday in Abuja at the eighth meeting of the Harmonisation and Integration of databases Committee (HIC), saying he did not entertain any fear as the strategy to make the December deadline realisable had been clearly mapped out.

He stated that the reason for the meeting was for the commencement of  plan of the standard that had been unified and agreed upon by the committee to  become implemented over time.
He said: “The stage is set for the implementation, the speed is now what will determine whether we will finish in November or in December, but we are clear in our minds on how to achieve the deadline.

“I am not entertaining worries or fears. I am just looking at how much effort our people in different Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) are prepared to put into this.”

In a circular distributed at the meeting and signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, drew the attention of the MDAs to the directive given by the president on the mandate of NIMC for strict compliance.

The circular states, “that NIMC shall have the primary responsibility to manage the committee and deliver the process and procedures for achieving a seamless integration of its NIMS infrastructure with existing infrastructure of other agencies within the time frame set by the government.

“This shall include without exception, all data capture related activities, development of database, identity authentication and verification, card issuance activities and related infrastructure.

“That henceforth, all identity database-related projects and procurement, especially as it relates to data capture, development of databases, identity authentication and verification and related identity management issues shall be validated against the harmonisation and integration programme in view of the set deadline of December 31, 2014 to ensure seamless and timely compliance with the directive within this transition period.

“That the office of the SSG through the governing board of the NIMC, shall ensure periodic evaluation of progress report and convene review meetings as appropriate and;
“That the government will monitor closely the implementation of this harmonisation and integration programme so that the appropriate time, government will publish the commencement date for the mandatory use of the NIN in line with Section 27 of the NIMC Act No. 23 of 2007.”