The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NIMC

  • NIMC to accelerate collection of e-ID cards

    The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has concluded its two-day 2nd International Vendors’ Summit, which was aimed at ensuring that citizens who have enrolled for their National Identification Number (NIN) get their National e-ID Cards on time, and draw a road map for the cards personalisation phase.

    The summit held at the NIMC Headquarters, Abuja, the nation’s capital, and had in attendance top executives of all NIMC Vendors’, partners and stakeholders; both local and international.

    A statement by its General Manager, Corporate Communications, Abdulhamid Umar, explained that a major consideration of the summit was for the commission to interface with the vendors and further examine the inputs of each vendor in the NIMS project.

    The interactive session was also a means to discuss strategies to ensure the swift distribution of the National e-ID Cards, and to fast-track the process for post issuance update for citizens who have already received their cards.

    Also, a review of the applets in the phase ‘1’card issuance, its successes, challenges and the way forward, was also part of the agenda, even as NIMC prepares for the activation of eight other applets on the National e-ID Card.

    “The key consideration for the second International Vendors’ Summit is to ensure that Nigerians are issued their cards on time. It is imperative to bring all stakeholders, who are involved in the National Identity e-ID Card project together to brainstorm on steps to make all the applets on the card user friendly,” the Acting General Manager, Information Technology/Identity Database (IT/IDD), Mr Chuks Onyepunuka, said while making his report.

     

  • NIMC urges eligible Nigerians to collect ID cards

    NIMC urges eligible Nigerians to collect ID cards

    Eligible Nigerians that enrolled for the national identity number at National Identity Management Commission’s (NIMC’s) centres have been advised to collect their Identity Cards (ID).

    The General Manager, Corporate Communications of the commission, Mr. Abdul-Hamid Umar, said this in Lagos yesterday.

    The commission, he added, has notified people who enrolled and whose cards were ready through text messages.

    “Many Nigerians have been enrolled in the national identity data base; though we are far behind the expectation.

    “Nigerians, who have received text messages personalised to them, giving information that their ID cards are ready, should come to our centres for collection,’’ Umar said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    The spokesman said the appropriate centres for the collection of cards had been stipulated in such messages.

    Umar added that there were some Nigerians who had not come for enrolment in the national identity data-base.

    According to him,  the commission was committed to ensuring that every eligible Nigerian was enrolled and issued ID card for identification.

    In a separate interview, Mrs. Titilola Ejiofor, an Assistant General Manager and Lagos State Coordinator of the commission, told NAN that the commission had 21 enrolment centres in the state.

    According to her, the centres are: Lagos State Head office in Ikeja, Lagos State University, Ikeja Army Cantonment, Eti-Osa, Ojo, Somolu, Oshodi, Amuwo-Odofin, Ayobo-Ipaja and Agege local government secretariats.

    Others are: FIRS Ikoyi, Lekki Phase I, Bonny Camp, Nigeria Air-force Base, Ikeja, Lagos State Polytechnic, Yaba College of Technology and University of Lagos.

  • NIMC’s facility gets certification

    NIMC’s facility gets certification

    The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC’s) facility has secured the certification of the Global Vendors Certification Programme (GVCP) by MasterCard.

    The facility that got certified is the Card Personalisation Bureau (CPB), which is where the National e-ID Cards are personalised and made ready for distribution and subsequent activation. This is one of the few government-owned facilities certified under the GVCP Scheme of the MasterCard on the African continent.

    Its Deputy Director, Corporate Communications, Mr. Abdulhamid Umar who confirmed the development said the certification followed conscious effort by the management of NIMC that led to the refitting, retooling and upgrading of the card printing facility that was built by government under the previous scheme in compliance with some of the requirements and standards for security and operational procedure in the Plastic Card Industry as set by the Europay, MasterCard and Visa, (EMV), Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) globally for such High Security Areas (HSAs).

    He noted that the ISO 27001: 2005 certification was also part of efforts at ensuring the GVCP, PCI DSS certification and noted that the coast was now clear for the NIMC to deploy its full capacity for card personalization and also for extending it to the third party vendors it has contracted for that purpose once they are ready. Mr. Umar further noted that as usual with industry practice, the facility would be recertified every year.

    He said the measures taken included providing the required security monitoring appliances for the ‘High Security Areas (HSAs) as well as ensuring the entire area is made safe and secured from threats of physical and logical security, including ensuring that the right persons with ‘clean service records’ are working in the Bureau with clearly defined access to the premises and to the entire NIMS system, particularly the card perso plant process.

    The entire exercise was subjected to an independent audit that raised necessary remedial steps to be taken following which, after subsequent audit exercise, the certification was granted. So the NIMC Card Bureau can personalise EMV Cards and there is no limit for its ability to do so except for the installed capacity of about 20,000 Cards a day.

  • Our data is intact, says NIMC’s chief

    Our data is intact, says NIMC’s chief

    •CBN’s BVN faulted 

    The Director-General (DG), National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Mr. Chris Onyemenam, has restated the inviolability of the data base of the National e-Identity Card, insisting that Nigerian citizens data are not warehoused outside the country, but within.

    The DG also faulted the biometric verification number (BVN) exercise of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mandating all the deposit money banks (DMBs) in the country to compile biometric data and assign number to all their customers. He argued that the exercise falls within the ambit of the NIMC.

    He said the national e-ID card information is secured in the National Identity Management System (NIMS) warehoused in the country, adding that it was wrong for people to start insinuating that the data on the electronic identity card is in a data centre somewhere in the United States (U.S).

    He said: “Our primary identity is to establish identity; no other organisation has that statutory responsibility. There is a risk in leaving our database in the hands of foreign institutions. At our data centre, we have firewalls and multi-layers that ensure that our systems are safe. Please believe, foreigners have no access to our database. The technology is full proof. We have built checks that prevent loopholes and ensure that it is within our control.”

    Onyemenam, a lawyer, dismissed the exercise as a charade as what the DMBs only do was to rely on the old data provided by the customers.

    He said: “It is only one institution, the NIMC that was established by law to be the custodian of national identity system. What we need is one centralised reliable national identity and that is what the NIMC has done. This will promote financial inclusion. The National Identity Number (NIN) is the universal identification for every Nigerian.”

    MasterCard sub-Saharan Africa which was alleged to be warehousing the data for onward shipment to the U.S also said it was not true.

    Its Divisional President, sub-Saharan Africa, Daniel Monehin, said the the firm is not in possession of the data of Nigerians that have registered for the national identity card project, adding that  the MasterCard logo on the e-ID card is for global acceptance.

    He said: “We don’t hold your information, your banks does. We don’t keep your data, your bank does. We are not a credit card company, we don’t give credit, your bank does. We are just a technology company.”

    According to him, MasterCard is not an American firm as being speculated insisting that it is a global technology firm that operates in 210 countries including Nigeria.

    “We believe that the functionalities provided in the national e-ID card makes for financial inclusion which is an antidote to poverty,” he said, adding that there are about 2.5billion adult population with $5 trillion purchasing power but are unbanked.

    He said 70 per cent of Nigerians are financially excluded from the formal sector, adding that e-payments to government will help government reduce cost and promote transparency, spur economic growth, increase civic engagement, create savings and institutionalise efficiency.

    He said the local economy relies heavily on cash, driving up management costs for banks.

     

     

  • Our data is intact, says NIMC’s chief

    •Faults CBN’s BVN

    The Director-General, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Mr. Chris Onyemenam, has restated the inviolability of the data base of the National e-Identity Card, insisting that Nigerian citizens’ data are not warehoused outside the country but within.

    The DG also faulted the biometric verification number (BVN) exercise of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which mandates all the deposit money banks (DMBs) in the country to compile biometric data and assign number to all bank customers. He argued that the exercise falls within the ambit of the NIMC.

    He said the national e-ID card information is secured in the National Identity Management System (NIMS) warehoused in the country, adding that it was wrong for people to start insinuating that the data is in a data centre somewhere in the United States (U.S).

    He said: “Our primary identity is to establish identity; no other organisation has that statutory responsibility. There is a risk in leaving our database in the hands of foreign institutions. At our data centre, we have firewalls and multi-layers that ensure that our systems are safe. Please believe, foreigners have no access to our database. The technology is full proof. We have built checks that prevent loopholes and ensure that it is within our control.”

    Onyemenam dismissed the exercise as a charade as what the DMBs only do was to rely on the old data provided by the customers.

    He said: “It is only one institution, the NIMC that was established by law to be the custodian of national identity system. What we need is one centralised reliable national identity and that is what the NIMC has done. This will promote financial inclusion. The National Identity Number (NIN) is the universal identification for every Nigerian.”

    MasterCard sub-Saharan Africa which was alleged to be warehousing the data for onward shipment to the U.S also said it was not true.

    Its Divisional President, sub-Saharan Africa, Daniel Monehin, said the the firm is not in possession of the data of Nigerians that have registered for the national identity card project, adding that  the MasterCard logo on the e-ID card is for global acceptance.

    He said: “We don’t hold your information, your banks does. We don’t keep your data, your bank does. We are not a credit card company, we don’t give credit, your bank does. We are just a technology company.”

    According to him, MasterCard is not an American firm as being speculated insisting that it is a global technology firm that operates in 210 countries including Nigeria.

    “We believe that the function-alities provided in the national e-ID card makes for financial inclusion which is an antidote to poverty,” he said, adding that there are about 2.5billion adult population with $5 trillion purchasing power but are unbanked.

    He said 70 per cent of Nigerians are financially excluded from the formal sector, adding that e-payments to government will help government reduce cost and promote transparency, spur economic growth, increase civic engagement, create savings and institutionalise efficiency.

    He said the local economy relies heavily on cash, driving up management costs for banks.

  • ‘National e-ID card, no substitute for international passport’

    ‘National e-ID card, no substitute for international passport’

    The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has clarified that it is not canvassing the use of the new national electronic identity card as an alternative to the   Conventional international passport.

    The commission said it has become imperative to put the record straight on the heels of misrepresentations in some quarters.

    The Head, Card Management Service, NIMC, Mr. Tunji Durodola, while fielding questions from journalists said the Commission cannot be canvassing the use of the new national e-ID Card as an alternative to the international passport when that is the exclusive statutory responsibility of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).

    According to Durodola, although one of the 13 applets found in the National e-ID Card has travel functionality for certain types of travels, the decision to adopt the e-ID Card and the operational modalities remain the responsibility of the NIS.

    “If and when it decides on this, the process can then be defined and implemented by the NIS which has the sole responsibility for migration management in Nigeria as the issuing authority for passport and travel documents in line with ICAO regulations.”

    He explained that even where there are regional requirements in the ECOWAS, which is part of the reasons for the inclusion of the ICAO-Travel functionality in the e-ID Card, it can only be adopted and implemented by the NIS which has the responsibility by law to provide international passport and related documents for citizens who wish to travel out of the country.

    Noting that the Commission is deeply embarrassed by the recent reports, the Head of Card Management clarified that although the applet on the Card issued to Nigerians is a bonafide Machine Readable Travel Document (MRTD), recognised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the NIS has to approve its use before it can become a travel document recognized by NIS and therefore all such institutions with which NIS has bilateral and or collaborating/reciprocating relationship because travel documents are the sole, statutory and exclusive responsibility of the NIS.

    He said: “For any country to recognise the use of the National e-ID Card for cross-border travel, its usage must be the product of a bilateral agreement and NIS runs the show in that respect, we have only provided an early and appropriate means of achieving that so we do optimise the resources we have as is done in Europe. That’s all we did.”

  • NIMC urges national ID card as travel document

    The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) is pushing for the use of the new National e-ID Card as a valid travel document.

    This as an alternative to the international passport for certain types of travels.

    The new National eID Card issued to Nigerians on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a bona fide Machine Readable Travel Document (MRTD), recognised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

    Its Head, Card Management Services, Mr. Tunji Durodola, explained that the back of the NIMC e-ID Card contains three lines called Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) lines just like the Passport and the same as other national identity cards that have ICAO support. Its development was as a result of NIMC’s conformance to the ICAO Document 9303 parts 1 and 2. rigorous testing by international testing agencies ensured that the contents of the chip meet or exceed the standards set by the internationally recognised body.

    The first generation of cards have the smartcard chip, but future generations will be dual-interface (chip and contactless) for a truly robust solution.

    But for other countries to recognise the use of the National e-ID card for cross-border travel, its usage must be included a bilateral agreement among countries that partner with Nigeria and this agreement must be recognised by the countries’ immigration and border control agencies, and such countries must have inspection devices that can read the cards, which most currently do.

    For this to work NIMC, the Federal Ministries of Aviation, Foreign Affairs and the Nigeria Immigration Service must have to sit down and agree on the process. Also, it is not certain if countries would be willing to work with Nigeria, which seems to be ahead of many other nations on the e-ID card programme. NIMC is confident that with time, the International Community will build confidence in the authenticity of the card and the robust security features built into it.

    Durodola also explained that Nigeria had to apply for an Object Identifier (OID), a pre-requisite for what is known as a document signer (DS), which in turn establishes the authenticity of the data contained on the chip as being authentic and not counterfeit. “The national identity card is also a travel document and conforms to the same standards (ICAO 9303 Rev 2) as international passports and national identity cards of other nations which have TD1 functionality built in. It is hoped that the document will be used for ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) travel (without the need for a passport), as the data on the chip cannot be forged. NIMC has its own  DS, a significant component of the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

  • NIMC uncovers 600 fake converted workers

    NIMC uncovers 600 fake converted workers

    The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) said it has uncovered about 600 workers with fake letters of conversion on its payroll.

    It said the discovery came during a staff audit jointly conducted by the office of the Head of Service and NIMC.

    The affected workers who are largely those inherited from the defunct Department of Civil Registration (DNCR), the precursor to NIMC, are reported to have been queried accordingly.

    Also, investigation by our correspondent revealed that the fake letters of conversion were purportedly signed by Mr Salawu and Mrs Shosanya and issued to the affected workers ahead of their qualification for conversion. This, the investigation showed is against proper procedure for their conversion.

    Although background checks to avoid compromising the National I.D Database  is one of the conditions that NIMC carries out regularly,  some forces are alleged to be bent on scuttling  further investigation and application of disciplinary actions by NIMC.

    NIMC has however turned down request to shed more light on the development.

  • NIMC cries out over fake enrolment agents

    The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has warned applicants to beware of fraudsters posing as its workers.

    Reports making the rounds say applicants must pay certain amount of money before they can be allowed to enrol for the National Identity Number (NIN).

    The Deputy Director, Corporate Communications, NIMC, Mr. Abdul-Hamid Umar, said enrolment into the National Identity Database (NIDB) is free, and no citizen or legal resident is expected to pay for it.

    He said: “It has come to the attention of NIMC that certain business centre miscreants, posing as NIMC agents, use banners bearing the NIMC or presidential logos at their business centres, and charge eligible applicants for pre-enrolment, making applicants believe they are paying for the NIN or the National e-ID.

    “NIMC is not oblivious of the fact that persons who visit business centres and cyber cafes for online pre-enrolment must pay for the use of the Internet, which is cost of the services rendered by the business owners, but condemns the report that the payment is either for the NIN or the National e-ID Card or that the money goes to NIMC.

    “NIMC has no business charging anybody for enrolment into the National Identity Database (NIDB); enrolment is free, and anyone who is asked to pay by an NIMC official, must report to the nearest security post.

    “It is safer and faster for eligible applicants, who have access to the Internet, to pre-enrol themselves via the NIMC Pre-enrolment portal http://ninenrol.gov.ng, using their personal computers (PCs); Internet-enabled phones or tablets at their convenience.”

    Umar urged Nigerians, who do not have such access, to visit the NIMC enrolment centre where they will be attended to. He said the NIN and National e-ID Card can only be issued to applicants, who have completed the enrolment process at the NIMC enrolment centres, and no business centre or individual has the right to do that.

    Umar cautioned Nigerians to beware of fraudsters posing as NIMC agents or workers, saying  applicants could call the NIMC call centre number 0700CALLNIMC or 07002255646 for enquiry about the enrolment process and procedures.

  • President orders NIMC to enrol all Nigerians

    President orders NIMC to enrol all Nigerians

    President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered the National Identity Database of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to register all Nigerians who meet the requirements for registration.

    He directed Federal Ministries, Agencies and Departments (MDAs) involved in data capture to align their activities in order to switch over to the NIMC infrastructure.

    The President gave the directives yesterday in Abuja at the launch of the Issuance Process for the National Electronic Identity Card (e-ID Card).

    Addressing the NIMC board and management, Jonathan said: “The journey to capture the populace, by issuing over 100million Cards has just begun. You should therefore ensure that the issuance process is prompt and swift enough to enable many more Nigerians obtain their own e-ID Cards, as soon as possible.”

    On the need for the MDAs to harmonise their biometric information, the President mandated the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to work “in conjunction with the commission, reach modalities for the harmonisation of their biometric projects, including other ongoing projects in other MDAs, with the e-ID card scheme”.

    To capture the biometrics of government contractors, Jonathan also directed the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to ensure immediate compliance with the harmonisation directive.