The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said all bank accounts without BVN and NIN will be placed on “Post no Debit” effective April 2024.

This is coming on the hill of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) suspension of Front-End Partners (FEPs) from participating in National Identification Number (NIN) enrolments.

Abisoye Coker-Odusote, the Director-General of NIMC, disclosed this significant development during a four-day training session for the newly revalidated FEPs in Abuja.

Earlier,  the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) disclosed that all the Bank Verification Number (BVN) or NIN attached to and/or associated with accounts or wallets must be electronically revalidated by January 31, 2024.

The suspension of the third-party service forms part of a broader revalidation exercise aimed at sanitizing the enrolment process and addressing outstanding debts owed to these third-party agents. Coker-Odusote emphasized that this initiative was not targeted at any specific group but was a necessary step towards ensuring data integrity within the country’s identity database.

According to the NIMC DG, the decision to suspend NIN enrolment activities at all FEP centers is a strategic move to conduct a thorough audit of the claims made by FEPs and to ensure compliance with

In 2020, NIMC initiated a comprehensive drive to expand the NIN database by licensing 203 agents nationwide. It included 73 private sector agents and 30 State Governments/public sector institutions to conduct enrolment of Nigerians and legal residents into the National Identity Database (NIDB) on behalf of NIMC.

This move saw the inclusion of key public sector institutions, notably the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Pension Commission, CBN (via Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems Plc), National Population Commission (NPC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joint Tax Board, and Nigeria Postal Services.

Additionally, licenses were granted to several other public sector bodies, such as the Military Pensions Board, Abuja Enterprise Agency, Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services, and the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons.

Also, about three months prior, NIMC announced its intention to further extend the network of agents for NIN enrollment across the country.

As part of this expansion plan, the Commission released a notice inviting various organizations to express their interest in participating in this national endeavour.

The invitation was extended to a diverse range of entities, including Limited Liability Companies (LLCs), startup companies, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).

The criteria for consideration included a proven track record of successful performance in similar roles, to enhance the efficiency and reach of data collection and NIN issuance processes.

Recall that NIMC engaged the agents to assist in the enrollment of Nigerians for the National Identification Number (NIN), in 2021.

In a recent letter to Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the minister of Interior, the agents expressed their dissatisfaction with the massive devaluation of the Naira, bank loans used to pay for equipment and other miscellaneous expenses, money owed to consumables suppliers, and an accumulation of salary arrears owed to staff.

They requested a meeting with the minister in a letter titled “RE: Request For Meeting On Payment Of Outstanding Enrollment Fees To FEPS And Matters Arising In The Commission,” dated October 12, 2023, in order to better understand their challenges.

Engineer Abisoye Coker-Odusote, the DG of NIMC, in a statement issued on Wednesday expressed her sympathy with the FEPs who have been burdened with running their businesses for two years without payment.

The agents had added over 60 million NINs to the NIMC database within the period of their engagement, even as Coker-Odusote affirmed that the revalidation exercise carried out recently for the FEPs had helped the Commission ascertain the debt.

“The Commission, under my leadership, has conducted a revalidation exercise to review the outstanding payments which the new management inherited to offset the debt after going through a due audit process to validate the claims made by the FEPs.

“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,” the DG said.

Coker-Odusote noted that the previous management of the Commission could not clear the outstanding payments due to a lack of funds, while assuring that the current management is working hard to source for the funds to clear the debt.

“I, therefore, use the opportunity to reiterate that the revalidation exercise was aimed at sanitising the system as well as ensuring efficient and effective enrolment processes in line with international best practices of securing citizens’ data,” she posited.