25th August, 2015
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said the national identity card project is important as a means of confirming Nigeria’s population, knowing the number of voters in the country in future elections and ensuring that votes of the citizens count.
The President who said this after he was registered for his national identity card by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja also said the national identity card can serve as a compliment to the voter’s card.
“I think this exercise is very important to confirm our population and those who are entitled to vote, that is those who are 18 years and above. It will complement the permanent voters’ card. So for those who want their votes to count from whichever party or constituency, they should ensure that they and their families are properly captured,” the President said in the brief remarks he delivered after he was captured.
Chris Onyemenam, the Director General of NIMC, told journalists that registration for the national identity card is a continuous exercise as the enrollment centres are always opened.
He added that NIMC is making efforts to have enrollment centres in all local governments across the country, in addition to in primary schools and tertiary institutions with the support of government.
He added that more centres can be created with the support of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
“Because of the records of births and deaths that are the primary responsibility of the Nigerian Population Commission, it will even become wider because there are more centres for the registration of births and deaths. Once a centre is established, it remains there and people can go there and enroll at their convenient time. They will do the pre-enrollment first before going to any centre for the biometric data capture,” the NIMC DG added.