Plastic National ID cards to be replaced with Digital Format – Minister

The Federal Government has dumped the use of the plastic cards printed by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in preference for digital identification of Nigerians in line with global practices.

Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, while briefing State House Correspondents, said the review was part of Citizen Data Management and Harmonisation programme of the government to bring the country’s identity management in line with modern standards.

“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’s already captured. You are already captured, you cannot run away anymore,” he said.

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy of Nigeria, Isa Patami, also shed light on the new digital identification.

“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” , he said.

– Sun