The
Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS)
has said that beginning 2018, anyone without a national identification number
will be unable to obtain the Nigerian passport.
According
to Thisday, the NIS
Comptroller General Mohammed Babandede
said this after a meeting with the Information Communication Technology (ICT)
Department of the Presidential Villa.
He
said the decision was made in conjunction with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), the bulk lies
on our entire table. It is the harmonisation of data and requires all of us to
act but the biggest problem we are facing is that everybody is deploying his
own technology. There is a practical commitment to this.
We
have agreed that from 2018 1st January, anybody who is going to apply for
Nigerian Passport, whether renewal or fresh must first have an NIMC number,
national identity number.
Why
we are doing this is we want to ease business for Nigerians. There is no need
for you to go and have your bio-metric captured by NIMC and then you come and
capture again with the Nigeria Immigrations.
Once
you give us your NIMC number, we will collect the bio-metric from NIMC and
produce your passport.
That
is the intention to do in all other agencies. I have also given directive that
any foreigner, non-Nigerian resident in Nigeria will not get his permit
renewed. He or she will not get his passport renewed until he has a NIMC
number.
To
achieve this, NIMC and passport numbers will be harmonised and we are committed
to allow NIMC in Immigration.
All
NIMC staff can work in our passport office so when you come to get the
passport, you can also get the national identity card.
The
NIMC has also allowed immigration staff to work in their offices so that
anybody who is coming to claim Nigerian citizenship, they will help to identify
that citizen. That is the cooperation that we have had so far.
He
said this will ensure what he terms “e-government,” which is the existence of a
centralized data center for government agencies. He said:
We
are not talking of tax, we are talking of e- government. We want to have one
e-government.
What
government is saying is that when you want to collect any facility from any
government agency, you don’t need to look for the document from any other government
agency.
We
should be able to access it. We should be able to know whether you have paid
your tax or not.
If
you are coming through the airport and you want to leave Nigeria, we should be
able to know that this guy has not paid his tax and you should be able to pay
your tax before you depart. We are looking at one e-government and it is
possible.
The
Senior Special Assistant to the President on ICT Lanre Osibona added that the NIMC has captured the data
of 20 million Nigerians.
He
said the Federal Government is working in conjunction with the World Bank and Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation with the intention of capturing 180 million
Nigerians in three years. He said:
We
just had a good meeting in terms of national identity which we know is a great
asset for the country, and so much work has been ongoing with respect to
harmonising all the silo data bases.
We
are making progress finally. The benefits of national identity are immense
security, innovation, social inclusion, financial inclusion. This concerns our
citizens and it helps in forecasting budget, better planning. So, we are
determined to ensure that we deliver full concise database for all Nigerians.
It
is good to also share with you that when we came in about two years ago, there
were 5 million records of NIMC but today, we have moved it close to 20 million
and we intend to have up to 30 million by the end of this year.
We
are working with the World Bank and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to have a
proper approach of how we will be able to capture over 180 million over a
three-year period.
Something
else that is very worthwhile to mention is part of the effort of government
with regards to digital economy.
What
we have also captured here is the Public Key Infrastructure which will sit
within NITDA. An intention of this is to allow for digital signing of key
documents being able to authenticate our document digitally.
Again,
this helps meet the effort of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment
Council (PEBEC) on ease of doing business. So, we will be able to have
Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), be able to issue certificates digitally,
National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), tax clearance, etc. So, the resolution
as part of the meeting here is that this will be driven by National Information
Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
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