There are concerns over possible misuse of National Identity Number (NIN) data by people who have been authorized to have unrestricted access to the National Identification Management Commission (NIMC) database.
This is because while there are penalties in the NIMC Act 2007 for Nigerians, foreign nationals and corporate organisations who access National Identity Number (NIN) data unlawfully, there are none for authorized persons.
These concerns resurfaced in view of the fresh allegations that the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, who oversees the NIMC, has links to Boko Haram terrorists due to religious comments made in the past.
Nigerians have raised concern over the safety of their personal information and there are calls for the resignation of the minister.
The Section 28 of the Act NIMC stipulated three to 10 years in jail or N10 million ($25,000) fine for unauthorizes person’s access to the data and for those who refuse to give information or give false information during NIN registration.
The NIMC has a mandate to create a national database for the NIN registration of all legal residents in Nigeria and also harmonise existing ones and register eligible persons. Some of the sensitive information collected during the registration include names, addresses, biometrics, residence status, date of birth, place of birth, physical features, parents’ information, guardian information, next of kin, among others.
The analysts at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) led by Esiri Agbeyi and Yemi Jimoh at PwC stated the absence of penalty for misuse of data by unauthorized person was an important issue that required urgent consideration by the government to prevent abuse.
The analysts in their review of the Act said, “Section 30 lists other offences to include destruction of the card and engaging in prescribed transactions without a NIN. Offences without specific penalties attract a general penalty of N100,000 or imprisonment for no less than 6 months or to both.
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“There are no specific penalties for authorised persons who misuse information on the NIN database. This is an important issue requiring urgent consideration by the government to prevent abuse.”
Videos of sermons preached by Pantami, who is an Ismalic cleric, indicated that he is a fervent supporter of extremist Islamist sects, openly supporting their violent cause.
In some of the videos, he praised the violent Jihadist narrative of al-Qaeda and the Taliban, saying “Oh God, give victory to the Taliban and to al-Qaeda.”
He also said, “This jihad is an obligation for every single believer, especially in Nigeria.”
In another, he reportedly endorsed the killing of unbelievers.
However, the embattled minister during his daily Ramadan lecture at Anoor Mosque in Abuja on Saturday, said his position on the subject has since changed.
He noted that his position on the subject was based on the information he had at the time, some of which were the consensus opinion among clerics in northern Nigeria at the dawn of the faceoff between the West and some Islamic countries in the early mid-2000s.
“Some of the comments I made some years ago that are generating controversies now were based on my understanding of religious issues at the time, and I have changed several positions taken in the past based on new evidence and maturity,” he was quoted as saying.
“I was young when I made some of the comments; I was in university, some of the comments were made when I was a teenager. I started preaching when I was 13, many scholars and individuals did not understand some of international events and therefore took some positions based on their understanding, some have come to change their positions later.”
