NIN project gets $45.5m from World Bank amid safety concerns

The National Identification Number (NIN) scheme under the Digital Identification for Development (ID4D) project has so far received $45.5 million from the World Bank through the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

The $45 million so far released accounts for about 10.5 per cent of the total project’s cost, put at $430 million. According to the project’s implementation report published by the Bank, the $45.5 million was disbursed in multiple tranches between December 2021 and April 2024 and disbursement is still ongoing.

The NIMC through the ID4D project has thus far issued 107.3 million NINs to Nigerians. This is coming amidst claims of data harvesting some platforms illegally through their linkage with the identity management body. NIMC has debunked claims of data breaches and warned Nigerians against phishing.

It should be noted that a deadine of June 1, 2024 was handed to Nigeria by the World Bank in which the country was expected to have issued 148 million NINs to eligible Nigerians.

Despite missing the target, in an earlier released progress report from the World Bank, it described the project progress as ‘moderately satisfactory’.

The release of funds for the project, which comprise a combination of loans and grants was predicated on the institutionalisation of data protection.

The World Bank explained that Nigeria was able to unlock the release of funding for the project with the passing into law of the Nigeria Data Protection Act in June last year, which is a guarantee that all the data being collected will be adequately protected.

It however, appears that data security is still a tall order for NIMC and indeed Nigeria. On June 20, Paradigm Initiative, a pan-African social enterprise, raised alarm over its discovery of the sale of NINs, bank verification numbers (BVNs), and other personal data of Nigerians on a website for as low as N100.

According to the organisation, a website known as ‘AnyVerify.com.ng’ was discovered to be involved in the commercial distribution of personal and private data of Nigerians.

Paradigm Initiative added that several unauthorised websites are claiming to hold and provide access to sensitive personal and financial data of Nigerian citizens “for as little as 100 Naira.”

Reacting to the report, the commission said AnyVerify.com.ng; idfinder.com.ng; Verify.Ng/sign in; championtech.com.ng and trustyonline.com, websites, are data harvesters and unauthorised to access or manage sensitive data.

The agency also denied the exposure of sensitive data of Nigerians “as alleged and reported.”

The commission, at this moment, assures the public that the data of Nigerians has not been compromised, and the Commission have not authorised any website or entity to sell or misuse the National Identification Number (NIN) amongst all the identities stated in the report,” NIMC said.NIN