Our server has never experienced crash – NIMC DG

The Director General/CEO of National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Engr. Aliyu Abubakar Aziz, has stated that the server hosting data of the identification number of Nigerians has never experienced a crash as often reported.

Aziz, who was speaking during a symposium on institutional reforms organized by the Public Complaints Commission (PCC) in Abuja, said over 200 servers hold the files in its care with over 100 million data.

He said: “There are sometimes people who will say we have hitches and it will be reported in the newspapers that NIMC’s server crashed. So I use to ask if they have seen the kind of server we utilize.

“We have more than 200 servers working together, in one of them, we have a 100 million records in the database. For you to insert one record, it needs to compare the fingerprint and face within a few seconds and give feedback. Is it that kind of server they will say crashed?

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“We have never had any server crash. Maybe it is other service providers that have that. But we have an infrastructure that is working.”

He stated the commission has been protecting the integrity of the numbers with sanctions given out to those found wanting of compromising data during registration or making alterations without due procedures

While stating that the integration of SIM cards with the National Identify Number was to ensure Nigeria has a database of its citizens, he said the tokenization of the number is to protect users from identity theft when they provide it for any service.

On his part, the Chief Commission of the PCC, Abimbola Ayo-Yusuf, stated that the symposium was organised to chart a way forward to protect the data of Nigerians.

“This is important because we need to block all loopholes within the system to timely safeguard everyone and preserve our true identity for continued existence as a nation,” he said.