N’Assembly moves to strengthen NIMC, protect data

Nigeria’s National Assembly has begun the process of repealing and re-enacting the NIMC Act No. 23 to strengthen the regulatory function of the National Identity Management Commission.

This development was revealed in a statement signed by the NIMC’s Head of Communications, Kayode Adegoke, on Friday.

The proposed NIMC Bill aims to enhance the efficacy and inclusivity of the National Identity Management System by expanding the scope of registrable persons.

The overhaul is expected to yield benefits including enhanced national security, efficient service delivery, and promoted financial inclusion.

“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,” the statement read.

According to NIMC, the bill will streamline the sharing of personal data, incorporating robust data protection measures to safeguard the privacy and confidentiality of individuals’ personal data and foster trust among citizens in the handling of their information.

The proposed law is expected to enhance its administrative enforcement power to ensure timely and accurate compliance with ID registration requirements.

The NIMC repeal and enactment bill, when passed into law, will lead to a more streamlined registration process, reducing bureaucratic hurdles and enhancing the reliability of the Nigeria ID System.

Despite the milestone of enrolling about 107 million Nigerians for the National Identity Number, the Commission faces allegations of privacy violations as the custodian of the country’s database.

NIMC has denied any data breaches and insisted that the national identity registry under its custody has not been compromised.

However, digital rights advocates argue that NIMC has failed to secure the data entrusted to it by Nigerians.

They believe NIMC needs to take responsibility, acknowledge the data leaks, and ensure they do not happen again.

Meanwhile, the World Bank is sponsoring Nigeria’s NIN project through the Digital Identification for Development project.

The Development Finance Institution initially set a target for Nigeria to enroll 148 million Nigerians for NIN by June 2024. However, Nigeria missed this deadline.

Consequently, the World Bank has restructured the $430m ID4D project to avoid truncation, extending the project closure date beyond the initial June 30, 2024 deadline by two years