The Federal Government says Nigerians can now request their commercial banks issue them with a debit card that doubles as their national identity card.
Prof Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja. He said this issuance comes at no cost.
Pantami stated that the approval was obtained at the meeting of the Federal Executive Council, which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said the approval followed a memo from the National Identity Management Commission allowing banks to print multipurpose debit cards that double as National identity cards.
The Minister explained that” It is going to be a form of multipurpose card where it will serve as your national identity card on one hand and also your bank card on the other hand, either Mastercard, Visa or any other kind of card.”
According to Pantami, although the NIMC Act 2007 only mandates Nigerians to have a National Identity Number and not necessarily a printout card, demands for cards have swelled nonetheless.
“As in the NIMC Act 2007, section 27, what is mandatory for our citizens and legal residents is the acquiring of the National Identity Number, not the card. However, the card is optional.
“But many citizens, particularly those living in rural communities, always go to NIMC offices complaining that they need the card at hand, even though it’s optional.
“To make it easier, NIMC last year, we introduced a smart ID card you can download from NIMC app. It is just a smart card. You don’t need to have it physically, but that is becoming difficult for our people living in rural communities.”
To ease the difficulty, Pantami said NIMC had partnered with the Central Bank of Nigeria ”so that citizens who are interested in having a card at hand can easily go to the relevant banks.”
According to him, the bank is permitted to print the card along with either a Mastercard or Visa card.
”It is going to be a form of multipurpose card that will serve as your national identity card on one hand and also your bank card on the other. And based on the agreement, it is without any additional costs on our citizens.
Source: PUNCH
In other news-Two die, four injured in Oyo lone crash
Two persons were said to have died in a lone accident involving a commercial bus in the Alakia area, New Ife Express Road in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
The accident, which occurred between 4.30am and 6am on Wednesday, left four other persons who had various degrees of injuries hospitalised.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the bus with number plate YYY485AA was en route from Ife to Ibadan when the driver rammed into a ditch that was dug across the road by the construction company currently working on the expressway. Learn more
