The announcement by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) that the NIN generated by the BVN can only be used after it has been updated at the NIMC enrolment centre has received huge criticism by Nigerians.
This new order by the commission means that people who have NIN generated BVN due to its record harmonization with the National Identity Database cannot have access to the NIMC mobile app, making their NIN-SIM integration invalid.
The only option for these people, according to the commission, is to visit the NIMC office in order to capture their biometrics and their pictures to fully complete the registration.
Nigerians have been thrown into confusion since the commission made this announcement via its official Twitter handle on Tuesday with a need to understand why this new order when the BVN provides the same information needed to fill NIN requirements.
Citizens took to their social handles to criticize the government decision as they correctly claim BVN was generated after fingerprint was captured, and in fact has more information on citizens as this is always the first requirement at the point of opening an account.
Nigerians believe the government is not sincere about caring for the health of its citizens, claiming they have been exposed to large crowds violating the COVID-19 social distancing protocols when they visit most NIMC offices in order to avoid deactivation of their SIMS.
This line of thought has been correctly backed by a member of the COVID-19 Presidential Task Force, Olorunnimbe Mamora, who on Monday said the ongoing enrolment may be suspended due to large crowds violating the COVID-19 social distancing protocols.
Nigerians are asking the commission to properly align with banks and mobile operators in order to create more offices for stream less registration of the NIN and SIM linkage.
