National Identity Number can do more than SIM registration

Claim: An image has been making the rounds on social media that Nigerian National Identification Card is only useful for SIM card registration.

Verdict: The claim is false.  According to section 27 of the NIMC act, the National Identification Number (NIN) can be used for a variety of purposes that includes registration for international passports, among others. 

• Banditry: Inside the fire engulfing northern Nigeria
• Banditry: Four Kaduna Female Students spend 10 weeks in captivity

Full text

An image that compared the usefulness of the Nigerian and Ghanian identity cards has been widely circulated on social media. The image claims that the Ghanaian card can be used as an “e-passport to travel to 97 borders and 44,000 airports while the Nigerian card is used for SIM card registration.”

The image was also posted by one of Nigeria’s ace actresses, Kate Henshaw, on her Twitter account and it has generated 900 retweets with 3,262 likes. Commenting on it, she queried, “Where are my Ghanian peeps?  Is this true? Naija, How far?? Hmmmm”

Verification

Brief on National Identity Number

The NIN is an eleven-digit number generated by the Automated Biometric identification system after successful enrolment of enrolees into the Nigerian identity database.

The number is issued to every Nigerian citizen and legal resident under the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act 2007 which replaced the National Identity Card, issued previously under the Department of National Civic Registration (DNCR).

It serves as a social security tracking and a legal means of identification of Nigerians.

But to be presentable, the act urged the commission to print out the NIN “on a security paper known as the ‘National Identification Number Slip’ which shall be visible on inspection and the National Identification Number can also be read from the chip embedded on the General Multipurpose Card (GMPC) using a card reading device.”

Consequently, section 27 of the NIMC Act states that the number should be mandatorily used for “application and issuance of an International Passport; opening of individual and/or group bank accounts, all consumer credits; purchase of insurance policies; the purchase, transfer and registration of land by any individual; National Health Insurance Scheme, such transactions that have social security implications, registration of voters, payment of taxes, and pensions.”

With the number containing all records about its holder like demographic data, fingerprints, head-to-shoulder facial picture, other biometric data and digital signature, it is seen as an easy document to verify details of holders.

Even though its purpose is not as potent to be used for a passport, the NIN serves as a means to centralize data of Nigerians and to be used as a primary means to conduct transactions with institutions when dealing with personal information. 

Can Ghana card be used as a passport?

The claim stemmed from a tweet from the verified Twitter account of the Ghana presidency that Ghanaians “can now use #GhanaCard as e-passport in 44,000 airports globally”.

Also, a report by Factcheck hub said the spokesperson to the Ghanaian Vice President, Dr Gideon Boako, had in a media chat, “confirmed that Ghana has gone through the process of having its national ID card certified as an e-passport.”

Similarly, reacting to the tweet by Henshaw, a tweet said “I am in Ghana with one of the cards. Our Veep first said it could be used as a passport but he came back later to say it’s in a process. He advised us to carry our passports with us when we travel.”

Another user Babatude Abiola Adepitan stated that “I Dey Ghana ooo! We never hear this news here, we are using this to register SIM cards too. Foreigners pay $120 (N50,000) to get it. It’s linked to Tax Identification Numbers, and eventually insurance and health. But the travelling bit, we never hear am”

“Not sure there’s any place where National ID cards are used as passports. Where will you stamp a visa or an arrival or departure mark on that card for example? Make we no dey quick believe everything,” another user responded.

Responding to the claim, the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO), an organization of the UN responsible for the development of international air transport, in a tweet noted that “ICAO is aware of recent and incorrect media reports claiming that ICAO has agreed that the Ghanaian ID card is equivalent to an ePassport. However, it is not ICAO’s role to certify the use of a State’s Identity Card for international travel in place of a passport.”

It stated that it is the sovereign right of a country to choose the documents to be presented for travelling while exiting and entering its territory.

“A number of states worldwide accept specified national ID cards as identity documents during air travel based on bilateral agreement between issuing and receiving states. Any decision to accept such alternative travel identity documents is made by the receiving state itself,” it said.

Conclusion

Nigeria’s NIN is used to source for data of its bearer and it is required by law for certain institutions to use for transactions it engages while dealing with personal information. Also, the Ghana identity performs a similar purpose with the NIN and it can’t be used as an e-passport to other countries yet, except when agreement is placed for it to be used for such purpose by a receiving country.