Agency to inspect NIMC equipment in April

A World Bank-financed agency, the Nigeria Digital Identification for Development project, will test the upgraded infrastructure of the National Identity Management Commission, The PUNCH has learnt.

The test will be done through the proposed Pilot Ecosystem Enrolment Project billed to begin on April 12.

This was according to a statement from the NDID4D External Communication Manager, Mouktar Adamu, which was sent to our correspondent.

It was noted that, “The pilot enrolment project is to test and assess the technical upgrade to NIMC’s infrastructure particularly in hard-to-reach communities and among the poor and vulnerable. Starting from the zero-phase starting in April 2023, the first phase would be conducted in July across some states before going nationwide in October 2023.”

According to the statement, the NDID4D is partnering with the Federal Capital Territory Social Safety Net Programme towards its forthcoming enrolment in the FCT, including the poor and vulnerable people, a primary area of interest to the safety net programme.

The statement noted, “Speaking earlier during the visit, Solomon Odole, the NDID4D Coordinator, said the project felt it needed the collaboration as the mandate of the project to ensure an increase in the number of people having the National Identification Number was in tune with the safety net’s collection of data on the poor and vulnerable for the National Social Register.”

Odole added that this goal aligned with the safety net data capture alongside the NIN.

He stated that this would also help the NDID4D to track an indicator of its Project Development Objective that related to SOCU-FCT’s focus on the poor and the vulnerable.

The Coordinator of the SOCU-FCT, Garba Gambo, disclosed that the social safety net project covered about 740 local governments with an upscaling done in January 2023.

The Nigeria Digital ID4D Project is to be financed through the World Bank’s International Development Association credit of $115m alongside co-financing of $100m from the French Agency for Development and $215m from the European Investment Bank.

The Project Coordinator for NDID4D, had earlier said that the project was established to increase the number of people with NINs and help upgrade the NIMC infrastructure.