By Calista Oyeoba / Posted November 25, 2024
Nigerians will need to pay for the new multipurpose national ID card, according to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC). The reason for this decision is the government’s limited revenue, as well as the need to avoid repeating past mistakes where free ID cards were issued but not collected.
Subscribe To The Best Team In Conservative, Business, Technology, Lifestyle And Digital News Realtime! support@ddnewsonline.com
The Head of Card Management Services at NIMC, Dr. Peter Iwegbu, stated this on Thursday during a media workshop organized by the Commission in Lagos.
Iwegbu said the decision was made by the Engr. Bisoye Coker-Odusote-led NIMC to avoid repeating the mistake of the past efforts to issue physical cards to Nigerians for free, which many Nigerians did not collect.
He also mentioned that over two million free ID cards were produced in the past but remained uncollected.
Subscribe To The Best Team In Conservative, Business, Technology, Lifestyle And Digital News Realtime! support@ddnewsonline.com
The new ID card is designed to be a multipurpose card that can serve as identity verification, payment, and government services. It’s powered by AfriGO and was developed in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System.
To get the new ID card, Nigerians will need to make a payment, select a pickup location, and then collect their card from the chosen location.
Although the cost of obtaining a National e-ID Card is not specified, but the service fee for modification of data is N500 per field, except for Change of Date of Birth which is N15,000
Subscribe To The Best Team In Conservative, Business, Technology, Lifestyle And Digital News Realtime! support@ddnewsonline.com
The government has also implemented programs to make the card accessible to less privileged Nigerians who cannot afford it but require it to access government support.