NIMC extends Diaspora enrolment of Nigerians to UK, UAE

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) said it has extended the enrolment of Nigerians under the Diaspora registration programme to the United Kingdom (UK) and United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The spokesperson of the commission, Loveday Ogbonna, said on Monday the decision to extend the enrolment exercise to the two countries, followed the success recorded since it kicked off in South Africa early in this month.

“The extension is in line with NIMC’s mandate to ensure all Nigerian citizens at home and in the Diaspora as well as legal residents in Nigeria, were enrolled into the National Identity Database and issued the unique National Identification Number (NIN),” the director general, NIMC, Aliyu Aziz, was quoted as saying.

The NIN enrolment in UAE and the UK, Mr Ognonna said, is in collaboration with the Defcon Systems Limited (DSL) and the National eAuthentication Limited (NeAL), two Nigerian companies licensed by NIMC as agents, to handle the enrolment services across the globe with to ensure best-in-class services and inclusivity.

He said the enrolment will involve the demographic & biometric data capture of all Nigerian citizens residing in the two countries.

The UAE programme is scheduled to take off on Tuesday, March 26, 2019 at the online Integrated Solutions DMCC office, 22nd Floor, Silver Tower, Cluster I Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai, UAE.

The UK programme is scheduled to begin on Friday, March 29, 2019 at the Online Integrated Solutions offices at OIS services, 56/57 Fleet Street London EC4Y IJU, UK; and St. Georges House, 6, St Georges Way, Leicester LE1 1SH, UK.

Mr Aziz said the programme will make it easier for Nigerians in the Diaspora to be identified, as the federal government has made the possession of NIN a mandatory requirement for elections, bank account opening, land transactions, access to legal/health services, acquisition/renewal of the international passport, driver’s license and the ECOWAS travel document, amongst others.

NIMC said the roll out of additional locations in other cities worldwide where Nigerians reside will be concluded and announced in due course.

The Nigerian companies licensed to work with their respective partners across all countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and America to carry out the enrolment of Nigerian adults and children in the Diaspora into the National Identity Database (NIDB) include Biosec Solutions Limited, CHAMS Consortium Limited, Defcon Systems Limited, National eAuthentication Limited, Thebez Global Resources and Venn Technology Limited.

The NIMC is the government agency mandated to create, own and manage the National Identity Database (NIDB), issue unique identity tokens in form of the NIN and the General Multi-Purpose Card (GMPC) to all Nigerian Citizens and Non-Nigerians residing in Nigeria.

The commission is also mandated to harmonize existing disparate databases of other government databases with the NIDB, provide the channels for the verification and authentication of such identities, and partner with other government agencies and the private sector to achieve its mandates.