Nigeria to Roll Out Multipurpose Biometric ID Card Soon

By Adedapo Adesanya

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) will soon roll out an improved multi-purpose biometric identity card to facilitate interventions.

The Director General of NIMC, Mrs Abisoye Coker-Odusote, disclosed this at a media briefing on an improved NIN card in Abuja at the weekend, noting that the move is in collaboration with the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS).

Mrs Coker-Odusote said the new card programme aims to address multiple use cases of federal government and private sector interventions and is also targeted at addressing social and economic issues in the country, with the payment functionalities and identity as a foundation.

According to her, “The key features of this card, are the biometric, based on the fingerprint, which is the only one that is currently unique; the card has a long validity period because it’s also fully KYC enabled; it has an offline and online capability, which means in locations where there are limited access to internet, this card will still work and be used for those services that it’s designed to achieve.

“And you can meet out cash, digital tokens, wallet, and email and it also has some banking details inside the chip that enables the holder to perform every other thing that can be done with an ENV-enabled card.

“On the back, the card provides additional functionalities which enable Nigerians and those who are going to have access to it to be able to prove their identity at any point in time they are called to do that.”

The NIMC CEO further explained that the new multi-tasking card also facilitates the inclusion of citizens in the social and economic activities in the country.

She noted that the second programme of the card called the Government of People card (G2P) addresses the current need for the government and its agencies, and even private sectors, to be able to identify people who are providing such services in a very secure and verifiable manner.

This is expected to take care of challenges in terms of identifying the people who participate in government intervention programmes.

On the cost of issuance, she assured that the card would be made available to Nigerians at affordable cost, adding that the newly designed biometric card is designed to uplift 133 million Nigerians out of poverty and provide seamless services.

Providing an overview of the project, the Director of the Card Management team, Mr Peter Iwegbu, said in terms of benefit to the citizens, the card will provide instant evidential identification; it’s a 3-in-1 card, access to government services, self-identification of yourself, and access to financial transactions.

The card also provides the opportunity to track people identify them and verify them without having to wait for any electronic devices.