The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has announced plans to charge Nigerians for the newly introduced multipurpose national identity cards, citing limited government revenue as the reason for this decision.
The head of card management services at NIMC, Peter Iwegbu, made the announcement during a two-day press conference held in Lagos on Thursday.
According to Iwegbu, the payment is intended to ensure that only Nigerians who genuinely need the cards will apply for them.
He explained that the introduction of payment would help prevent a repeat of past initiatives where physical cards were issued for free but remained largely uncollected, leading to financial losses for the commission.
Iwegbu revealed that many Nigerians refused to pick up the old ID cards, which were discontinued due to funding issues, primarily because they did not need them.
“Before we stopped due to funding, we produced more than two million cards, but a lot of them are still in our office. People were not able to pick them up because they didn’t need them,” he said.
He further noted that the government could not fund the production of the new ID cards due to limited revenue, prompting the commission to require payments from Nigerians.
He disclosed that the payments would aid the production of the new ID cards, which are expected to serve various functions, including identification, financial transactions, and access to government services.
“The government’s limited revenue is also a major factor in the decision to make Nigerians pay for the new ID card,” Iwegbu added.
NIMC’s director of information technology, Lanre Yusuf, outlined the process Nigerians must follow to obtain the new cards.
“To get the new national ID card, Nigerians will need to make a payment, select a pickup location, and then collect their card from the chosen location,” Yusuf explained.
Speaking on the government’s efforts to assist the less privileged, Yusuf said, “The government has implemented programmes to make the card accessible to less privileged Nigerians who cannot afford it but require it to access government support. This initiative demonstrates the government’s commitment to inclusivity and equality.”
Yusuf added that the multipurpose ID cards are expected to launch soon, with sample test cards already received. “The new national ID card is a multipurpose card that can serve the purpose of identity verification, payments, and even government services,” he stated.
