Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Engr. Aliyu Aziz, has disclosed that the cost of producing a unit of the national identity card is higher than that of an international passport, even as it is offered the citizens for free.
The NIMC boss stated on Wednesday during a budget assessment meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on the Diaspora, as plans were one to enroll Nigerians living abroad in the exercise.
He also confirmed the controversial introduction of a fee for renewal of the card, stating that the first issuance is free but that “the Commission will henceforth charge processing fee of N5,000 for re-issuance of any lost card due to its processing cost”.
According to him, the Commission would need to establish additional 3000 new registration centres in addition to the existing 1000 registration, which he said were inadequate to carter for biometric data capturing of the nation’s teeming eligible population, pointing out that there no temporary ID cards were issued by the agency, but permanent ones with 18 kilobyte microchip-based security features.
He explained further that NIMC decided to reduce data content feature in the card in order to cut down the cost of production, as he lamented that the agency was facing serious challenges in the area of funding, and manpower.
Chairman of the House Committee on the Diaspora Hon. Tolu Akande-Sadipe, however expressed displeasure of the panel with the modalities adopted for the registration of Nigerians living outside the country.
According to her, Nigerians living abroad are exposed to security issues due to inability to be captured, especially in the face of contract for same being awarded to private companies, giving assurance that the committee would ensure that funds were made available for the Commission to carry out its mandate.
