NIMC; Deliberately orphaned and abandoned by the Federal Government of Nigeria


The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) established by the NIMC Act No. 23 of 2007, the NIMC has the mandate to establish, own, operate, maintain and manage the National Identity Database in Nigeria, register persons covered by the Act, assign a Unique National Identification Number (NIN) and issue General Multi-Purpose Cards (GMPC) to those who are citizens of Nigeria as well as others legally residing within the country.
The NIMC Act 2007 provides for the establishment of the NIMC, its functions, powers, establishment of the National Identity Database, assignment and use of General Multi-purpose cards, and the National Identification Number (NIN). The Act also provides the Commission with powers to make regulations connected with its functions.

Any time the Federal Government declares it's determination to provide a lifelong unique identification for every individual physically residing in Nigeria and Nigerians in the diaspora; it is like making empty promises. One is left to consider the situation so because there has been numerous Presidential directives on the mandatory use of NIN and the NIMC being the converging point for Identity for the country but it has always ended up watered down.


We need a unique digital identification platform that is linked to functional ID registries in order to enhance governance, help its people people rise out of poverty, restore growth and participate in the digital economy. Presidential directives have become mere wishful expressions and are not enforced. The NIMC partners have sustained increased competition and duplication of functions. They still maintain independent databases and the harmonization of data by sister agencies ordered by the presidency is taking like forever to complete. There are deliberate man made challenges which ranges from foot dragging, sabotaging and power play for the control of the Identity atmosphere.


Some of the stakeholders and partners of NIMC which include the National Population Commission, Nigerian Immigration Service, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Central Bank of Nigeria, National Health Insurance Scheme, National Independent Electoral Commission, Federal Road Safety Commission and Corporate Affairs Commission. Others include the Nigerian Communication Commission, Joint Admission and Matriculation board, the Nigerian Police Force, and the National Pension Commission have not really helped much. Their actions have caused Nigerian citizens identity fatigue resulting from identity prostitutions in the country

So far, only Central Bank of Nigeria has been able to harmonized her data with the NIMC. It is expected that once the harmonization and integration is completed with CBN, they should stop the issuance of Bank Verification Number and rely on the NIN. But there is increased enrolment for BVN probably because of millions of Naira the proponents stands to benefit from this duplication and this amounts to unnecessary torture for the people. In sane clime, once a person approach a bank to open an account, upon presentation of his National Identification Number (NIN), the bank will link to the National Identity Database and generate all information pertaining to that customer instead of exposing him to the rigors of time wasting for a fresh biometric capture and submission of different documents

The National Identification Number (NIN) can be used for such services like application for and issuance of passport, voters registration, opening of bank accounts, all consumer credit transactions, purchase of insurance policies, transactions with social security implications, transactions specified under the contributory health insurance scheme, payment of taxes, transactions pertaining to pension, admission into schools and all other relevant government services. Identity in Nigeria is critical to accessing services physically and electronically as well as identifying the targeted beneficiaries of a programme.

The above mentioned services are all encompassing and very vital to economic growth. Yet, the Federal government has continued to neglect the commission by providing very little budgetary allocation. The budget of the NIMC in the last 3 years is a copy and paste scenario.. What INEC gets for a year is what it takes NIMC about 9 years to get in budgetary allocation. One may wonder whether INEC has more national and Economic importance than the NIMC! The politicians are simply interested in what schemes them into political power than what is intended to check them and checkmate anomalies in the system.

The Federal government has continued to neglect the NIMC with reckless abandon. All cries by previous management to get increased funding to sustain machines and men has fallen on deaf ears. There has been continuous exodus of best brains due to poor welfare. Many employees have lost their lives as a result of poor salaries that won't encourage them to seek medical help for manageable cases. Just this first half of 2019 alone, the commission has lost six (6) employees. Many more are sick with one form of ailment or the other. Workers are faced with increased hazard when they attend to diseased applicants who come for enrolment and yet, there is no hazard allowance.

The worst of it all is the continued decrease in salaries from 2014 to date. The Federal government abandoned NIMC without supervision and scrutiny and corruption has become the order of the day. How does one explain this statistical impossibilities of decreasing salaries even when one has been promoted? Illegal recruitment which the management term as replacement, over 370 employees were brought in between January 2017 and July 2018. Does it mean that number of staff retired or died? How come each time there is recruitment, there is corresponding decrease in salaries? Does it mean those recruitment were illegal and no budgetary provisions and salaries had to be sliced to accommodate the new intakes?

By way of flashback, in 2015, there was a decrease in the salaries of grade level 8 staff members from #84,000 to #75,000 per month and new staff members were recruited. In 2016, it dropped to #73,000 and this was sustained throughout 2017. In June 2017, a lot of employees were promoted and properly placed and the new promotion and its financial implication takes effect in January 2018. The big drama was the January 2018 salaries which saw someone who has been promoted from grade level 8 to 10 receiving #67,000, an amount less that what he was as level 8 officer! Even the promotion and Placement exercise was seriously marred by irregularities. The committee that was set up following the uproar that greeted that exercise, took more than a year to turn it its report despite the six weeks timeline given. The said report till date has not been released by the management.


January 2018 abracadabra led some employees to stage a protest and #10,000 was added to salaries across board. Even with the addition, it didn't amount to #94,000 a grade level 10 officer was receiving in 2017. The Paramilitary Salary Structure the commission got approval for since 2014/2015 has remained a mirage. The management has exploited that window to always inform staff members to remain calm that they are waiting for funds to commence implementation. The next time there is tension, management would either say they are waiting for Presidential assent or waiting for the Federal government to conclude the New National Minimum Wage. It has been from one story to another all these years to the extent employees now sees the NIMC management as using Paramilitary salary Scale to scam them.

The Commission was eventually integrated into a pseudo IPPIS scheme in September 2018 and the salaries dropped again by #10,000. This time, management cited non approval of allowances as the reason. How can one work from 8 am to 5 pm weeks and there is no allowance attached to his salaries? Are the commission's employees contract staff?

Now, for over 18 months, no allowances has been paid despite the extra one hour we put in everyday on week days. The NIMC is runned like a private company. No wonder they collapsed the usual public service ranking pattern into private sector ranks such as a general manager instead of a director, assistant general manager instead of assistant director and so on. Year in and out, no benefits or incentives are paid to employees. Employees of sister agencies would boast about what the get as incentives and allowances but nothing goes on in the NIMC. The recent death of two employees namely Mr Agbogu Steve, a level 14 officer and Mr Rufus Ajoyemi Oluwole, a level 13 officer about the same week sparked a renewed call for improved welfare since nobody knows who is next to die in a death sentenced commission like the NIMC that strives in a slave- master's atmosphere.

There is an impending showdown between the Union and NIMC management if no meaningful improvement is noticed in June 2019 salaries. The Federal government should as a matter of emergency show commitment by increasing funding with specific attention on the employees welfare; to an organisation that has the capacity to help deliver its development agenda and provide for key government's services such as safety net, financial inclusion, security and agriculture.

NIN issues everywhere because of bad corrupt government

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