The federal government has disclosed that it has captured an additional 30 million Nigerians on the database of the Nigeria Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
The Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, disclosed this at the venue of the launch of the 3.5GHz spectrum auction in Abuja yesterday.
Pantami said the total enrollment by NIMC between 2007 and October 2020 was just 40m with an average registration of 2.5m Nigerians annually.
He said: “NIMC was able to attain 40m registration because of the Bank Verification Number exercise which ensured support for the exercise.
“Since taking over NIMC a little over one year ago, we have achieved a total of 70m registered Nigerians on the database, without releasing one extra naira to NIMC.”
He said the drive to increase the capturing is because identity is key to 5G deployment
“Today, digital technology is not about socialisation but the key enabler of other sectors. It sustains the financial sector,” he added.
