The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) announced that Nigerians must pay for the new multipurpose national identity card.
Dr Peter Iwegbu, head of Card Management Services at NIMC, explained this decision on Thursday during a media workshop in Lagos. He said this approach ensures the card is issued only to those who genuinely need it.
“We want to avoid the mistakes of the past when the government issued free physical cards,” he said. He noted that more than two million cards were produced during previous attempts to issue free National ID cards, but many were never collected.
“Before we stopped due to funding, a lot of them were still in our office because people didn’t need them,” Iwegbu said.
He explained that the government cannot provide free ID cards due to budget limitations. “First, the government has no money to produce this card and give it out for free.”
Additionally, he emphasised the importance of people genuinely needing the card to ensure they collect it.
Help For Less-Privileged
However, Dr Iwegbu assured that the government has programs to help less-privileged Nigerians who cannot afford the card.
He mentioned the card’s launch is expected in weeks, as sample test cards have already been received.
Engr. Lanre Yusuf, the Director of IT at NIMC, supported his colleague, adding that the idea of a free national ID card was good in theory but did not work in practice.
“What we are working on now is a post-paid identity card. You pay for the card, choose where to collect it, and then pick it up,” he explained.
The NIMC plans to make it easy for people to request and collect their cards through partnerships with banks nationwide.
The new multipurpose ID card will serve various functions, including identity verification, payments, and access to government services. It will also support the eNaira as part of its capabilities.
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