The Minister of Interior, retired Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau, has urged the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to fast track the process of issuing all Nigerians with the National Identification Number (NIN).
The minister said this on Thursday in Abuja when the Director-General of NIMC, Aliyu Abubakar, led a delegation to present the minister with his national ID card.
He emphasised the need for NIMC to focus on the enrolment and issuance of NIN to all Nigerians rather than the actual production of the national ID card “which is very expensive”.
“The NIN is the most important thing, I want you to do everything possible to ensure that all Nigerians get their number and not just on the production of the national ID card which is very expensive,” he said.
He said that the Federal Government was working round the clock to link the NIMC database with all other government agencies such as the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).
Earlier, the NIMC boss, Aliyu Abubakar, said that the Commission was now focusing on the issuance of NIN to Nigerians rather than the national I.D. card due to paucity of funds.
It will be recalled that the NIS Comptroller-General, Muhammad Babandede, recently said that from January, 2018, Nigerians without NIN will not be able to process their e-passport. (NAN)