Nigerians based in the United States are to pay between 40 and 50 dollars each to be enrolled for the National Identity Number (NIN), according to an official.
This was disclosed by Ms Uche Chigbo, the Special Assistant to the Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), on Thursday, in New York.
Chigbo explained that that registrant from 0 to 15 years old would pay 40 dollars each, while those from 16 years and above will pay 50 dollars.
At the official exchange rate, 50 dollars is equivalent to N15,300, while 40 dollars amounts to N12,240.
She said, “NIMC does not have the legal backing and the resources to go to another country to enrol people, and capture biometrics and other data.
“It is in this light that we decided to license private sector organisations which have the legal backing to engage in such service provision for the country.
“And they are a going concern; they made investment in terms of equipment because we didn’t give them the equipment they are using; they have to buy all of that.
“They are also renting offices, employing people and establishing a connection between whichever country they are operating in and Nigeria so that they can seamlessly send the records real-time online.
“All of these are investments they are making and as a going concern, a token should be paid for this service that they are going to be rendering.’’