Harmonised Digital Identity Ecosystem, critical to our policies on economy, social protection, others – VP Osinbajo

*Gets update on the ongoing Harmonised Digital National Identification Programme.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has received an update on the Federal Government’s Digital Identity Programme of the Buhari administration.

Prof Osinbajo while commending the effort of the inter-ministerial committee handling the project, stressed the importance of a unique digital National Identity Number (NIN) for Nigerians,  expressing expectations that the programme would be completed on time.

“We await the completion of this task with expectations,” the Vice President noted while also appreciating the support of development partners including the World Bank,  French Development Agency (Agence Française De Développement, AFD) both of whom are supporting the programme.

The programme is being handled by Federal Government MDAs involved in identity management and are members of the Harmonisation Committee which include the Office of the National Security Adviser, and other security agencies, the National Identity Management Commission, National Population Commission, Nigerian Immigration Service, Nigerian Communications Commission, Independent National Electoral Commission, Central Bank of Nigeria, Federal Road Safety Corps, Federal Inland Revenue Service, National Health Insurance Scheme and PENCOM.

The committee is tasked with developing a Strategic Roadmap for developing  a Harmonised Digital National Identity Ecosystem that will strengthen & digitise the ID system and the adoption of a new approach that ensures harmonisation and effectiveness in ID management in Nigeria.

A brief presented by representatives of identity agencies and development partners at the meeting held over the weekend at the Presidential Villa shows that the FG has made substantial progress and has endorsed a Strategic Roadmap document that ensures the ID system and the issuance of National Identity numbers to Nigerians would henceforth progress faster than it had been in the past.

From the progress report presented to the Vice President, Nigeria will achieve full digital identity  in the next three years, while efforts are ongoing to get all identity-related agencies to harmonize databases and work towards achieving the same objectives.

Commenting, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on ICT, Mr Lanre Osibona who is  coordinating the programme, explained that the Identity harmonisation programme is critical to a number of policies and initiatives being implemented by the Buhari administration.

According to him, “If you look at it in terms of our programme on social safety nets, financial inclusion, the need to develop a digital economy that supports e-commerce, e-payment/e-transactions and other innovations, identity is a critical aspect, so this is very key for us – to make sure that we can capture every Nigerian.”

Also commenting the Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, Engr Aliyu Aziz stated that the commission is now close to achieving harmonization of 30 million identities on its system.

He explained that the focus for now and in the next three years would be on numbers – to give digital identification (NIN) rather than the issuance of permanent identification cards to Nigerians.

According to him, “with the new approach, the ecosystem approach, it has been agreed that all agencies of government providing functional identity will work with NIMC in a collaborative manner so that it can move quickly to cover the whole population. The timeline to cover the whole population is about three years.”

In this effort the World Bank has offered ro support Nigeria in the development of the ID system that works for the people, having agreed to embrace the Strategic Roadmap that ensures seamless processing of unique identity numbers for Nigerians.

According to Rachid Benmessaoud, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria who was also at the meeting “the World Bank Group is pleased to support the Federal Government of Nigeria in its goal of achieving universal digital identification for Nigeria.”

He said the bank is grateful for the leadership of the Vice President in bringing all the concerned agencies around a strategic roadmap for the development and implementation of a common, robust ID platform for effective access to services.”

Some of the other FG agency heads present at the meeting include the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Mr Mohammed Babandede and the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Boboye Oyeyemi, among others.