The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday approved a bill requiring mandatory registration for Nigerians in an attempt to reform Nigeria’s identity management system by repealing and reenacting the National Identity Management Commission Act.
Additionally, the measure calls for the establishment of a commission and a centralised database to handle citizen registration and identity card issuance.
The bill was passed following the adoption of the report given by Senator Victor Umeh, the chairman of the Senate Committee on National Identity Card and Population.
Umeh is a legislator who represents Anambra Central on the Labour Party’s platform.
He said that the agency will be in charge of providing identity credentials, registering people, and managing the national identity database.
“The Act will improve biometric data collection, make it easier to create a national identity database, and enable the NIMC to issue rules and guidelines for implementing the Act and other related matters,” he stated.
The senator also promised that the bill would create a simplified identity system with less stringent, nondiscriminatory, and affordable data security protections that meet international standards.
Umeh continued by saying that the urgent need for a comprehensive national identity system was the reason why the bill garnered overwhelmingly positive feedback from stakeholders during the public hearing.
