Nigerian govt to replace ID cards with digital ID for all citizens

The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, said on Thursday the Federal Government had concluded arrangements to drop the plastic identity cards for digital.

Aregbesola, who disclosed this to State House correspondents after leading members of the committee on Citizen Data Management and Harmonisation to present their report to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the plastic cards were only symbolic while the main component should be the identification number.

The minister said:

“The card is just for convenience. The real thing is the number you have.

“With that number, you are on the data bank. Everything about you is there.

“We are just upgrading it such that your DNA too will be there very soon. Even if you are in a car, I will know if you are the one in the car with your DNA.

“It is already captured. You are already captured, you cannot run away anymore.”

READ ALSO: NIMC to charge N5,000 to replace damaged National ID Card

Also speaking, the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Patami, said the nation was no longer talking about cards.

“What the chairman (Aregbesola) is saying now is that we are no more talking about cards, the world has gone digital, so that card is no more.

“Our priority now is the digital ID. It will be attached to your database wherever you are. So if you can memorize it by heart, wherever you go, that central database domiciled with NIMC will be able to provide the number and every one of your data will be provided.

“Now, our focus is no longer on producing cards. That card is only for record but what is important is the digital ID and if you notice, we have started using the digital ID on the international passport. Once you have the digital ID but not the card, we are 100 percent done with you,” Pantami said.

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