Ahead of ID4Africa’s online country profile event on Wednesday September 23, we have dedicated this edition of our overview of digital identity and biometrics news in Africa almost exclusively to Nigeria . The private and financial sectors have been making progress with digital ID technology, and the World Bank and others are financing the acceleration of the biometric national identity scheme, which should allow further progress, but for now is holding things up. Data protection policy development remains on the sidelines.
Nigeria: Timeline for national registration completion revealed
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) needs between three and five years to complete registration of its citizens, This Day Live reports the commission director general, Aliyu Aziz, as saying. Elsewhere the piece suggests the target is 150 million people.
Aziz also explained how collaboration with the Independent National Electoral Commission and National Orientation Agency would allow voter validation via the National Identity Number (NIN).
Speaking on International Identity Day, September 16, Aziz announced that 42 million Nigerians had registered with NIMC, reports another article by This Day, up by a million since May . The population is around 207 million. He said the NIMC is underfunded and has 200 centers when it needs around 4,000.
The article reported as part of Aziz’s remarks on the day’s theme of ‘Identity for Health, Sustainable Development and Growth’ that security agencies would be able to access the commission’s database to identify people.
The NIMC has been able to harmonize 11 million out of 14 million records supplied by the Central Bank of Nigeria on Bank Verification Numbers, and the process will be extended to incorporate the pension commission and immigration service.
Aziz also said that all children will be registered at birth and be linked to the NIN of one of their parents until the age of 16.
Nigeria: Biometric backdown over re-verification
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) backed down soon after announcing the need for account holders to re-register their bank accounts biometrically, reports The Guardian .
Nigerians were asked to do the same thing four years ago, that time by the Central Bank of Nigeria, and were vocal in their complaints when asked to do the same again, telling the government to look to their BVNs and ID numbers for the details. Many believed it was the first move in introducing higher taxes.The tax agency backed down within hours and apologized, clarifying that the new requirement […]