The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has urged Nigerians to make use of its alternative ‘Tokenisation’ verification platform for identity verification.
This call follows the unavailability of the NIMC National Identity Number (NIN) Verification Service (NVS) due to ongoing maintenance of the commission’s server.
Clarifying the situation, the head of corporate communications, NIMC, Kayode Adegoke, said no Nigerian should be debarred over the non-verification of their NIN details.
“Even though the NIN verification service (NVS) might be down due to maintenance by one of our service providers of its infrastructure, the alternative platform – ‘Tokenisation’ – is up and running. No one should be debarred of any service on the guise of NIN not being verified.
“There is the need to ask questions from the telcos, NIS, banks and others on the reason for turning down customers in the guise of NIN not being verified due to the temporary unavailability of the NVS, while the alternative platform- ‘Tokenisation’ is working.
“NIMC NVS platform is not the only verification platform available for use, but ‘Tokenisation’ which protects the identity of NIN holders is also up and running,” he stressed.
He added that it is not a NIMC problem; rather, [an issue that arises from the inability of] a government service provider to maintain its infrastructure, which has affected most government agencies that rely on it for the provision of IT service.
According to him, for the NIMC, the ‘Tokenisation’ is available for the verification of the NIN before rendering services.
“The NVS issue has not in any way affected our other operations and services – enrollment/issuance of NIN and other services are ongoing; its only verification of NIN on the NIN Verification Service platform that has affected as stated in the statement and in which case there is an alternative platform – ‘Tokenisation’ – for applicants and organisations to use for the NIN verification,” he stated.
