TheCable

Aliyu Aziz, director-general of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), says the commission has so far harmonised 14 million bank verification number (BVN) and national identification number (NIN).

In 2019, TheCable had reported that the National Pension Commission (PenCom) directed all retirement savings account (RSA) holders to undergo a recapture exercise to link their BVN and NIN to their accounts.

PenCom had said the directive was as a result of the federal government’s drive to implement the national identity management system.

Speaking at a three-day Africa Tech leaders webinar series on COVID-19, organised by Digital Jewels Limited, Aziz said there is an ongoing harmonisation of BVN with NIN, out of which 14 million has been processed.

To scale up NIN enrolment, the DG said NIMC currently has 42 million unique records in the national identity database (NIDB).

He said the agency has the mandate of the federal executive council (FEC) to enroll all Nigerians and foreign legal residents in the next three to five years through the ecosystem approach, with funding of $433 million from the World Bank, Agence Francaise de Développement (AfD), and the European Union.

On why bank verification number (BVN) and not NIN is used for the administration of the COVID-19 palliatives, he said: “If you’re doing anything about payments you can go through BVN.

“But NIN is the foundational Identity. BVN and the NIN follow the same standard. When there’s a pandemic, the government can readily use what’s available.”

He added that the commission adopts the global best practices in data management.

“The NIMC ISO certification in 2014, and recent recertification in 2020 is a confirmation of the Commission’s continuous efforts at protecting its data,” Aziz added.

“The process of capturing and storing the data is secured and there are data protection guidelines and a data protection bill in the national assembly awaiting passage.”

The NIMC DG said the COVID-19 pandemic has brought “unexpected troubles” to the entire world, disrupting all plans and projections.

He said the pandemic has presented an opportunity for the Nigerian and African public sector to embrace technology and make swift decisions to effect change to suit the current reality.

He, therefore, called on Africa to be innovative and, in particular, take digital identity seriously to navigate the resultant impacts and disruptions, which the COVID-19 pandemic is throwing up.