The failure by the National Identity Management Commission, (NIMC) to pay outstanding debt owed to its Front End Partners (FEP) is threatening the enrollment of Nigerians for biometric capturing for the National Identity Numbers (NIN).
Investigation revealed that the Front End Partners engaged as enrolment agents in 2020, to complement the NIMC are being owed arrears of two years for services rendered to Nigerians through the agency.
One of the front end partners who spoke under condition of anonymity said that they were engaged in January 2020 when the federal government discovered that the NIMC outlets could not meet the target of enrollment of over 200 million Nigerians.
Despite the agreement to be paying the Front End Partners on a monthly basis, the source revealed that they only received payment for six months in 2021 after which the management of NIMC has consistently failed to redeem its financial obligations in the last two years.
He said:” From January 2022 to this time that we are speaking now, they haven’t paid a dime! And people have been working every month. The idea of the Front End Partners came because the offices of NIMCs scattered across the country, they weren’t getting reasonable results and the cost of doing enrolment in those centres were seriously prohibitive.
“Some were paying N5,000, some were paying N10,000, whereas officially, enrolment should cost zero. So, in the wisdom of the previous management itself, they said, ok let the FEP start to do it and nobody is expected to charge any money and they were supposed to pay them on a month to month basis.
“The month to month is what started in January of 2000 to this November, which too could dovetail into December to make exactly two years that the government refused to pay one dime to the Front End Partners.
“The implication of this is that many people have invested, they took loans from microfinance banks to buy the equipment and machines but the government has refused to pay them what they agreed to pay.”
A staff at the NIMC national head office in Abuja admitted that there was an understanding to pay the Front End Partners by the immediate past Director General of the agency, Engineer Aliyu Azeez, who had given his commitment to offset the outstanding payment, but the new Director-General, Engineer Abisoye-Coker Odusote, stopped the payment in order to carry out what she called a revalidation process. The source disclosed that she had since stopped enrolment by the Front End Partners.
“Nothing is working, it is only our NIMC offices that are doing enrollment and we have gone back to that problematic period of people queuing and rushing because there are limited locations for them. We thought that was resolved but we have come back to that. Well, the management is saying that they want to revalidate some people.”
The NIMC staff said the implication of shutting down the Front End Partners is that the NIMC officers are overwhelmed.
“We want to believe that when they finish this revalidation process, the job will continue because two months is a long time. This shutdown has been since October, we are in November now.
“So, if they don’t open by December, we have lost three months of enrollment. When you don’t enroll, people that want to get their international passport can’t do it because they need NIN. They will be the ones that will be rushing to the outlets of NIMC and most of our outlets aren’t really doing much.”
Speaking in a telephone interview, Special Adviser on Media to the Chief Executive Officer/ Director General of NIMC, Mr. Ayodele Babalola, explained the reason for the delay in payment of the Front End Partners.
While he dismissed insinuation of threat to enrolment, Babalola said the new management was determined to carry out a process of revalidation of the Front End Partners which he noted was meant to ensure the highest standards of data security and compliance.
He said: “The NIN project is not under any threat because enrolment is still ongoing at NIMC’s state and local govt offices across the federation.
“The revalidation exercise of the FEPs is in line with efforts to ensure a more secured NIN registration and modification process also part of NIMC’s commitment to ensuring the highest standards of data security and compliance.
“The exercise would also ensure seamless and secured NIN enrollment and modification services as well as complete elimination of infractions.
“All necessary machinery has been put in place to ensure its quick conclusion so as to be able to settle their debts before renewal of their licences.”
Tribune