NIMC registers over 14m Nigerians in database

National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) said it has registered over 14 million Nigerians in the national identity database.

According to the commission, it had in the last one year doubled its initial 7 million.

Chika Lovesday, general manager Corporate Communication, told Nigerian Tribune that between 2012 and 2015 the commission was able to enrol slightly over 7million adding that within one year it doubled its efforts which led to the increase.

He added that the objective since Engineer Aliyu Aziz, the new Director General, took over was to enrol 70 million Nigerians in the database, but for limited resources.

His words: “We budgeted for 70 million, so far we are able to meet a significant figure. Right now we have about 14 million enrolment into the database from the slightly over 7million within one year.”

“7 million is in addition to what we had before, since we started enrolment in 2012. From 2012 to 2015 when we came in, we had slightly over 7 million.”

Lovesday, who identified funding and power as drivers to achieving its goals said these have become major factors affecting the effective function of the commission.

According to him out of the 774 local governments in the country, the commission has only been able to access 470 LGAs adding that electricity is crucial to carrying out its duties effectively in these locations.

Citing instance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), he said, “we are making efforts to cover everywhere, we are supposed to be in every local government, 774 LGAs but so far we are in about 470. It is either we don’t have all the necessary resources to be there; but in the places we are, activities are ongoing as much as we can carry.”

“Our main challenge, I will say is power. When you compare us to what our sister agencies are doing we discovered that INEC is in every ward not just in the local government during the elections, they are in every ward because they have materials to work with.

“It is not just enough to say that we are in a place and put signboard, yet are not working. We have to be in that place with what will make us work.”