CEM REPORT, GOVERNANCE | A sigh of relief may be coming soon for thousands of enrollment agents struggling to keep their businesses afloat. The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has finally committed to settling outstanding payments owed to its Front-End Partners (FEPs) within the first quarter of 2024.
For two years, these agents, who play a crucial role in registering Nigerians for the National Identification Number (NIN), have been left in the lurch, grappling with unpaid fees and mounting debts. Their frustration reached a boiling point in October 2023, when a group of affected firms wrote a desperate letter to the Minister of Interior, pleading for intervention.
The letter, titled “Request For Meeting On Payment Of Outstanding Enrolment Fees To FEPS And Matters Arising In The Commission,” detailed the FEPs’ anguish and highlighted their crucial contribution to the NIN project, boasting over 60 million new NINs added to the database.
NIMC New Management Brings Hope:
The wind seems to be changing direction with the arrival of Engineer Abisoye Coker-Odusote as the new NIMC Director General. In a statement released on Wednesday, she acknowledged the plight of the FEPs and expressed her sincere sympathy for their ordeal.
“We understand the hardship you have faced due to the delay in payments,” Coker-Odusote said. “We sympathize with our partners and appeal for understanding, especially as the new NIMC management is just a few months old and has been working diligently to resolve all inherited debts.”
Enrollment Agents Revalidation and Restructuring:
The new DG also shed light on the reason behind the delays. Apparently, the previous NIMC administration had been facing financial constraints, hindering its ability to settle outstanding invoices. However, Coker-Odusote assured that the current leadership is actively working on securing funds to fulfil its commitments.
Furthermore, to ensure transparency and accountability, the NIMC has conducted a thorough revalidation exercise to verify the accuracy of claims made by the FEPs. This process uncovered discrepancies in some invoices, prompting the need for further scrutiny before payments are disbursed.
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“In the process, we found out that some of the invoices submitted by the FEPs did not tally with the enrolment figures shown on the database thus prompting the revalidation exercise to confirm the true and accurate enrolment information.
“Notwithstanding, we are wrapping up the audit process, and the activation of the FEPs will be done according to the outcome of the validation exercise. We sympathise with our partners over the delay and appeal for understanding especially as the new NIMC management is just a few months in the saddle and has been working on resolving all inherited debts,
“We are committed to sanitizing the system and ensuring efficient and effective enrolment processes that comply with international best practices for securing citizens’ data,” Coker-Odusote emphasized.
Impact and Future Outlook:
The swift action taken by the new NIMC leadership is a welcome development for both the FEPs and the National ID program as a whole. Clearing the outstanding debts will not only alleviate the financial burden on enrollment agents but also revitalize the registration process, potentially leading to a significant increase in NIN enrollment numbers.
