President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the transfer of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to the ministry of communications and digital economy.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by Uwa Suleiman, spokesman to the minister of communications and digital economy, on Monday.
The statement disclosed that the transfer is “an effort to ensure that synergy and effective ministry supervisory mechanism is put in place to coordinate, monitor and track the progress of federal government’s digital transformation initiatives”.
NIMC presently reports to the presidency and the office of the secretary to the government of the federation.
It said the transfer was based on the president’s consideration for the role of NIMC towards the realisation of the objectives of the national digital economy policy and strategy for a digital Nigeria (NDEPS).
The statement also disclosed that Buhari’s directive on the transfer is an illustration of his vote to confidence in Isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy, based on an “unprecedented performance”.
The NIMC is said to have so far registered 41 million people for the national identity number (NIN) while the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has details of over 191 million mobile subscribers.
