The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has expressed concern over the low enrollment for the National Identification Number (NIN) in Bayelsa State.
The State Director of NIMC, Mr Stephen Inokoba made this known when he visited the state Deputy Governor, Mr Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo on Friday in Yenagoa.
Inokoba informed the deputy governor that the commission was surprised that less than one million persons had registered on the NIMC database since the exercise.
According to the latest NIN data published by NIMC, Bayelsa had the least number of issued NINs among all 36 states of the federation with 657,484 residents captured as of December 2023. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) estimated the State’s population at 2.3 million in 2022.
This indicates that only about 29% of the state residents had been captured in the NIN database as of December 2023.
Enrollment centres closed
While attributing the poor registration to apathy and likely ignorance on the part of the people, the NIMC Director said the commission had to close down some centres in the States’ eight local government areas due to poor response from the people to the exercise.
Inokoba appealed to the state government to come to its aid in the exercise.
Responding, the Deputy Governor, Ewhrudjakpo, said that the state government would partner with the commission by creating more NIN registration centres in all the council areas.
He described as unfair and unacceptable, the closure of several NIN registration centres across the state, making Bayelsa the only state with less than one million people registered so far on the NIMC database.
Ewhrudjakpo debunked the notion that Bayelsa was the smallest state in the country, noting that the landmass and natural endowments of the state had strategically positioned it as a big state in the federation.
“We salute and appreciate your good sense of patriotism and responsibility towards the people of Bayelsa so that they are not left out. Thank you for the commitment you have shown.
“Bayelsa deserves a better deal. We are ready to collaborate with you. By next week, I will meet with the local government chairmen and their RDA counterparts.
“We are going to spare no effort to ensure that we change the erroneous impression that Bayelsa is a small state,” he said.
Moves to strengthen NIMC
Meanwhile, the National Assembly, as part of the moves to strengthen the regulatory function of NIMC, has embarked on repealing and enacting the NIMC Act No. 23.
The NIMC Bill represents a significant legislative endeavour to enhance the efficacy and inclusivity of the Identity Management System.
According to a statement issued by the Commission on Friday, the updated and comprehensive bill embodies several proposed amendments designed to improve the effectiveness and inclusivity of the Nigeria ID System.
“The amendments seek to fortify the foundational framework of the NIMC and its operations by; Expanding the Scope of Registrable Persons.
“The benefit to the country is a more comprehensive and inclusive identification system, which enhances national security, facilitates efficient service delivery and promotes financial inclusion,” NIMC said in a statement signed by its Head of Corporate Communications, Kayode Adegoke.
What you should know
Going by the latest NIMC data, is the last on the list of the 10 bottom states in terms of NIN enrollment figures as of December 2023.
- The NIMC data shows that the 10 states with the lowest NIN issued are Kwara with 1.77 million, Akwa-Ibom with 1.76 million, Kogi with 1.73 million, Enugu with 1.67 million, Yobe with 1.65 million, Taraba with 1.49 million, Cross River 1.19 million, Ekiti 1.02 million, Ebonyi 839,506, and Bayelsa 657,484.
- However, the population of the states with the lowest NIN enrollment figure is also low compared with say Lagos State, which topped the NIN table with 11.42 million NINs issued as of December.
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