Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has made new appointments for his second term in the office tagged “Next Level.”
NewsOne Nigeria reports that President Buhari has inaugurated a steering committee for the Nigeria Digital Identity for Development Ecosystem project.
The committee headed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha, has been tasked to fast-track the implementation of the strategic roadmap for accelerating digital identity development for Nigeria.
Other members of the committee include the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, Alternate Chairman/Member; Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami; Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu; Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola; Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire; and Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.
Others are the Directors-General, National Orientation Agency, Garba Abari; NIMC, Aliyu Aziz, who is the secretary; National Security Adviser; CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele; Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs; Chairman, National Population Commission, and private sector representatives – Joe Abah, Country Director of DAI; and Auwal Musa of CISLAC.
Joe Abah announced his appointment into the committee on Friday on the ,micro-blogging site, Twitter, saying: “Mr President has appointed me into the Steering Committee to drive digital identification, chaired by the SGF. Our task is to give all Nigerians a digital identity within 5 years. We will integrate other data that govt holds, like BVN, drivers licence & passports, with NIMC’s NIN,” he wrote.
Mr President has appointed me into the Steering Committee to drive digital identification, chaired by the SGF. Our task is to give all Nigerians a digital identity within 5 years. We will integrate other data that govt holds, like BVN, drivers licence & passports, with NIMC’s NIN
— Dr. Joe Abah (@DrJoeAbah) July 17, 2020
Meanwhile, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has only been able to issue 41 million NINs despite Nigeria’s population of over 200 million people but the SGF said digital identification is central and critical to realising the objective of the government’s Economic and Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP).
The SGF stressed that the strategic roadmap, approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on September 12, 2018, “is a culmination of the enormous collective efforts and contributions of so many institutions and stakeholders, which began in the year 2015, when this Government took a decision to forge a credible and cost-effective pathway for identification management.”
“To accelerate the implementation of the Strategic Roadmap, therefore, “Government considered and adopted a three-tiered institutional arrangement comprising of a Steering Committee, a Strategic Unit, an Implementation Unit situated in the NIMC, and with responsibilities for providing overall governance and coordination, ecosystem partners’ coordination and communication and day-to-day project implementation respectively,” he said.
