THE National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has extended the period of the pilot scheme for the issuance of the National Identification numbers (NINs) to two months.
The Guardian learnt at the Lagos office of NIMC that, although the enrolment centres were ready with equipment and members of staff and enrolment was ongoing, the process was still being done under the development environment.
A source close to NIMC Head Office disclosed at the weekend that approval to commence the actual production was yet to be obtained from the supervising ministry.
The Chief Executive Officer, NIMC, Mr. Chris Onyemenam, at a meeting with key stakeholders on the project in Lagos recently, said that the Federal Government would begin the issuance of national identity numbers from today (August 1, 2011).
According to Onyemenam, the NIN is an 11-digit number that will be given to every Nigerian, adding that the first set of NINs would be generated on August 1 and the recipients' biometric data would be collected for national identity management purpose.
He noted that the pilot exercise was inaugurated on July 27 across eight locations, including Lagos, Abuja, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Enugu, and Kaduna.
Onyemenam said 100 million Nigerians would be issued with their identification numbers in the first 30 months, while the entire populace was expected to have been registered within the next 60 months.
The NIMC boss further said that leading consulting firm, KPMG, had been appointed as the project manager to help monitor the implementation of the all-important project.
He explained that Chams and One Secure Card Consortium had been appointed as front-end partners for data capture, personalisation of smart ID cards and deployment of smartcard verification devices.
This aspect of the project, which is to be financed by the private sector, has already attracted six banks, which are currently doing their due diligence ahead of the final investment decision.
According to him, when the numbers are issued, they will be uploaded on to chip-embedded multifunctional smartcards along with the citizens' personal information.
But investigations at the weekend revealed that senior management officials of the commission had insisted on the board's approval at the minimum, adding that the approval of the supervising ministry, that is the Office of the SGF, will pave the way for obtaining approval for a formal launch to be performed by the president.
Besides, the pre-enrolment awareness campaign, which will kick off with the formal unveiling of the official logo of the commission and those of its partners who will manage the enrolment centres had not commenced for the same reasons.
Sources further confirmed that the management of the NIMC Programme Management Office was against a kick-off with only eight enrollment centres for the pilot scheme of such a national project within a short period of time, hence the need for extension.
The Guardian