President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the transfer of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.
The NIMC will now be under the watch of Isa Pantami.
Spokesperson of the ministry Uwa Suleiman in a statement on Monday said the transfer was “to ensure that synergy and effective ministry supervisory mechanism is put in place to coordinate, monitor and track the progress of Federal Government’s digital transformation initiatives.”
She said the approval was based on the president’s consideration for the critical role of NIMC towards the realisation of the objectives of the national digital economy policy and strategy for a digital Nigeria (NDEPS).
“He (Pantami) was also able to secure Mr President’s approval for the provision of security as well as designation of Telecommunications Infrastructure as Critical National Infrastructure, regularization of improperly registered SIM cards and deactivation of unregistered ones, the deployment of over 250 digital projects across the country under his policies and supervision as well as built the capacity of over 36,000 Nigerians,” the statement read.
The NIMC was established to create, manage, maintain and operate the national identity database established by the NIMC Act, 2007.
“The Commission has so far registered around 41 million eligible enrollees for the National Identity Number (NIN), while the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on the other hand has details of over 191 million mobile subscribers,” she said.
