The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) says that no fewer than 120 million persons have so far been captured in the ongoing nationwide National Identity Number enrollment since inception.

The Director General of NIMC, Abisoye Coker-Odusote disclosed this at a media conference on Wednesday in Abuja.

She said the enrollment would continue at both the rural and urban communities.

She stated, “We have enrolled many Nigerians and are still counting so we are definitely going to continue to ensure that we enroll more Nigerians before the end of this year. One of the things that we have done under the partnership with the World Bank on the Nigeria Identification for Development (ID4D) project is that we have been able to ensure that the private sector is integrated into what we do. We have collaboration with the private sector through our scheme known as Frontier Partners where they join us to enroll Nigerians nationwide and they go out there with us and enroll Nigerians.’’

Mrs Coker-Odusote said the commission had been able to create an enabling environment by providing jobs nationwide.

She said NIMC state offices and even at the local governments were equipped with upgraded equipment to help enrollees in various communities to be able to enroll.

Mrs Coker-Odusote added, “There are well trained NIMC staff that are willing to assist you to be able to enroll through the application and modify the information as requested. So, it’s very important for us to know that when we are looking at the pricing framework, the summary of it is some prices were deleted, some prices were reviewed downward, and some prices were increased.’’

She said that citizens were allowed to book online, and visit the centres to pre-enrol, pre-fill their information as well as get their biometrics captured.

Mrs Coker-Odusote said the pre-enrolment system processes had reduced across ports for easier access of time in biometric capturing, saying that information was submitted online and authenticated and pre-enrolled.

“People may move from one location to another location, and they want to update because of jobs, because of family, people relocate to different parts of Nigeria. So, if you move from Lagos State to Kaduna or you move from Abuja to Cross River, you need to be able to update your records.

“So rather than allowing people to come and queue up at our centres we created the modification platform online,” she said.

Mrs Coker-Odusote said the platform known as Self-Assist Platform allowed users to log in with their biometrics, authenticate and follow cyber security policies and data protection policy to be able to modify data and update records online.

“The NIMC NIN Authentication application is the official service for integration with the commission’s backend infrastructure. It introduces a robust layer of protection, empowering individuals with greater control over their personal information,” she said.

Mrs Coker-Odusote said student loans could only be facilitated through NIN enrollment, adding that it would drive economic growth and financial inclusion.

She noted, “The government has provided access to facilities, loan facilities for students or aspiring students that would like to further their higher education to be able to apply for this process with ease. All you need to do is go on to their portal, input your name and what that does is you have a single source of information and verifiable information.’’

The director general said that the process was to eliminate the possibility of duplication and also reduce cases or instances of identity fraud, adding that students had been able to apply for the loans successfully.

She also said that the commission had also engaged cyber security experts to be able to help strengthen international best practices.

She stated, “We have been able to reduce issues around extortion and corruption by at least 40 per cent. It’s an ongoing process, we’re working on it and we have done quite a bit to be able to address all the problems.’’

Mr Coker-Odusote, however, said training and re-training were ongoing to deliver their services efficiently.

(NAN)