GM Legal Regulatory and Compliance Services, Hadiza Ali -Dagabana during her presentation at the World Legal Summit, 2019 in Jos, Plateau State.

Jos, the Plateau State capital recently played host to the World Legal Summit, 2019. The event which took place in the Usiju Events Centre, Jos had the theme, “Bringing Legal Insights to Emerging Technologies” and was hosted by the Plateau State Ministry of Justice in collaboration with other partners including the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

Representing the NIMC was the General Manager Legal Regulatory and Compliance Services (LR&CS), Hadiza Ali Dagabana who was also a facilitator at the event. She presented a paper titled, “Identity and Personal Governance: The Implementation of the Nigeria National Identity Management System (NIMS)”.

While speaking to the Participants, the GM LR&CS, explained that the role of the NIMS transcends mere issuance of identity cards as often wrongly perceived, the NIMC was established pursuant to the NIMC Act No. 23 of 2007 to amongst other things create and manage the National Identity Database, enroll citizens and legal residents and issue them a unique National Identification Number (NIN), as well as harmonize and integrate existing identification databases in government agencies into the national Identity Database.

She reiterated the fact that the card was an additional token issued by the NIMC for identification and other functions, while the NIN is the unique identifier and primary token issued by NIMC. She added that the introduction of the NIMS is imperative to correct the oversight of the previous ID systems and to usher in a new system that meets international standards and best practices.

The NIMS design she stated puts into consideration the guiding principles of digital identity that is a system that provides for the, “inclusion, ownership, simplicity, confidentiality, consent, transparency, security and integrity, data rights, fair use and choice. These principles she observed, promotes trust and understanding while restoring control of personal data to the individual. She also added that the technology deployed at both the Front End and Back End was designed to ensure trusted and secure service delivery.

The GM, LR&CS explained the Ecosystem which is a NIMC Project being implemented in partnership with the World Bank, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the European Union (EU). This project she stated seeks to scale up enrolment, extend enrolment coverage Nationwide, and reduce cost in data collection, speed of delivery, digital verification of identity anytime and anywhere in Nigeria through secure and protected channels.

She further added that the NIMC is in the process of evaluating Expression of Interest (EOIs) submitted for selection of partners to deliver on the front end component of the project. She mentioned some of the benefits of the identity program to include financial inclusion, voting, education, migration and travel and also providing social safety nets.

The summit had in attendance the Plateau State Governor who was represented by the DG Plateau ICT Development (PICTDA) Mr. David Daser, the Head of Service, Plateau State, Mr. Izam Azi, The Attorney General of the State Chrysanthus Tuammen Ahmadu Esq., the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Justice – Rauta Joshua Dakok Esq., the Executive Chairman Plateau State Board of Internal Revenue Service amongst other dignitaries and key players in the legal and ICT sector.

Signed:

Abdulhamid Umar
General Manager, Operations/Corporate Communications