Politics

Nigeria plans 3 new national ID cards for 104m Nigerians

Published

9 months ago

April 8, 2024

Nigeria’s National Identity Management Commission is planning three new national identity cards for about 104 million citizens across the country, which are to be launched next month.

The cards, according to the Technical Adviser, Media, and Communications to the Director-General of NIMC, Ayodele Babalola, would be a bank-enabled National ID card, a social intervention card, and an optional ECOWAS National Biometric Identity Card. Babalola told journalists on Sunday that the three national ID cards within one or two months of the launch.

Babalola stated, “We expect the bank-enabled National ID to meet the needs of the middle and upper segments who typically use banks within the next one or two months after launch. Also, activation of the National Safety Net Card to meet the urgent needs for authentication and a secure platform for government services such as palliatives within the next one or two months. The focus will be on the 25 million vulnerable Nigerians funded by the current government intervention programmes.”

“Digital/virtual versions of all cards will be available for individuals who prefer digital formats, albeit with limited functionalities. Additionally, ECOWAS cards will be issued on an as-needed basis in collaboration with the Nigerian Immigration Service,” he added.

The identity commission announced last week that they are going to make a national ID card that can be used for many things. The statement said that the identity option could be used to pay for all kinds of financial and social services.

NIMC said in a release on Friday that the project was a joint effort between NIMC, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System. Its goal is to give customers more choices while also encouraging service delivery in a more creative, cost-effective, and competitive way.

The new plan is not the first time that the government has tried to make things easier for Nigerians by giving out new ID cards. In 2006, the Federal Government asked an indigenous company called Chams to take on the National ID project. It did, and it was chosen as the best bidder for the national ID concession.

After signing the concession deal with the NIMC, Chams said it would put the concession into action by creating Chams Consortium Limited, a special vehicle whose only job was to carry out the NIC concession. However, the project hit a snag when Mastercard, one of the technical partners on the concession, was accused of working with others to sabotage the concession that Chams won, using technical knowledge and design that Chams gave to them to help others. Chams/CCL invested more than $100 million in the project.

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Politics

Mozambique’s top court affirms governing party’s victory in recent election

Published

13 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The highest court in Mozambique affirmed Monday that the incumbent Frelimo party won the October election, sparking widespread demonstrations from opposition parties who claim the vote was manipulated.

Fears of fresh bloodshed have been raised in the nation already shaken by weeks of fatal protests after Mozambique’s top electoral court mostly confirmed the results of the country’s contentious October elections, reinforcing the Frelimo party’s decades-long hold on power.

The final decision on the election process rests with the Constitutional Council. Mozambique, a nation of over 35 million people in Southern Africa that Frelimo has ruled since 1975, is expected to see more protests in response to its judgement.

Mozambique operates a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic in a multi-party system. The president of Mozambique serves as both the head of state and the head of government.

The government exercises executive power. The administration and the Assembly of the Republic have the authority to enact laws.

Politics

Alliance of Sahel States opposes ECOWAS disengagement schedule

Published

14 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) withdrawal timeline has been rejected by the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which is made up of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.

The AES claims that the ECOWAS is attempting to destabilise their newly formed organisation.

During a meeting last week in Abuja, Nigeria, the regional organisation announced a six-month withdrawal period to give the three nations time to change their minds after their official departure date at the end of January 2025.

However, this decision is “nothing more than yet another attempt by the French and its auxiliaries to continue planning and carrying out destabilising actions against the AES,” according to the heads of state of the AES.

“This unilateral decision is not binding on the ESA countries,” the statement continues. Before the conference, they stated that their choice to leave the organisation was “irreversible.”

According to the president of the Ecowas Commission, this will be a “transition period” that ends on “July 29, 2025” to “keep the doors of Ecowas open.”

The three nations accused the bloc of neglecting to assist them in resolving their domestic security challenges and of imposing “inhumane and irresponsible” sanctions related to the coup.

The three nations that were involved in the coup have mostly rejected ECOWAS’ attempts to undo their withdrawal. They are creating their alliance and have begun thinking about how to issue travel passports independently of ECOWAS.

It is anticipated that they will finish giving their one-year notice of departure in January.

Visa-free travel to other ECOWAS members is a significant perk of membership, and it is unclear how this would alter after the three nations exit the group.