The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) said it has mandated security agencies to arrest and prosecute Nigerians printing what it described as ‘NIN cards’ ahead of its planned General Multipurpose Card (GMPC).
The Commission, which issued the warning in a statement released on Monday and signed by its Head, Corporate Communications Unit, Kayode Adegoke, reiterated that the NIN slip is the only legal document authorized as a means of identification.
NIMC said it has observed that “some unscrupulous individuals, cyber cafes, and organizations” are indiscriminately printing unauthorized NIN cards and charging unsuspecting members of the public exorbitant fees.
Unauthorised cards
The Commission, which had announced plans to launch its multipurpose card last year, said it has not authorized anyone or any organization to print any card in place of the NIMC General Multi-Purpose Card.
This act, it said, is against the NIMC Act no 23, 2007.
“To this end, the general public and organizations are advised to stop printing any NIN cards against the authorized NIMC GMPC. The so-called NIN card is not authorized by NIMC, and on no account should anyone present it as a means of identification.
“The security agencies have been notified of this nefarious activity and have been mandated to apprehend those involved. Anyone caught will be made to face the full wrath of the law,” NIMC stated.
Without stating any specific time for its launch, NIMC said it has finalized plans to launch the Improved GMPC, which is multifunctional and serves as a physical means of identification and payment, to meet the yearnings of Nigerians.
The NIMC card
NIMC first announced its general multipurpose card in April last year powered by AfriGO, a local payment platform. However, there has been uncertainty over the time of the card’s rollout.
- Sharing details about the new card program during a recent press conference, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Dr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote said the card aims to address multiple use cases of federal government and private sector interventions.
- It is also targeted at addressing social and economic issues in the country, with payment functionalities and identity as a foundation.
- According to her, the key features of this card include the biometric, which is unique to the owner.
The card has a long validity period because it’s also fully KYC enabled and it has an offline and online capability, which means the card can be used for financial transactions even in areas where there is limited or no access to the internet.
What you should know
Although the government is hoping to issue the cards to as many Nigerians as requested, NIMC has said that Nigerians who want the card would have to pay for it.
- According to the Head of Card Management Services at NIMC, Dr. Peter Iwegbu, aside from the government’s limited resources to fund free cards, NIMC also wants to avoid repeating the mistake of the past efforts to issue physical cards to Nigerians for free, which many Nigerians did not collect.
- He said that over two million cards were produced in the previous attempt to issue free National ID cards by the NIMC, but many of them were uncollected to date.
– Iwegbu, however, noted that the government has different programs to make the card available to less-privileged Nigerians who may not be able to pay for the card but need it to access government support.
He said NIMC is working with banks across the country, which will make it possible for people to walk into any bank closest to them and request the card.
