The National Identity  Management  Commission (NIMC) said that  it  has taken  necessary  mechanism to checkmate the excesses  of some individuals who might  wish to fraudulently obtain the General Multi-Purpose Card (GMPC) otherwise known as ‘National  Identity Card’.

The coordinator Imo State, Mr Ugo Basil Ihejirika, who gave the assurance on Monday, while speaking on the importance of the card to members of the public, pointed out that both  biometrics and demography equipment linked  to fingerprints, had been put in place while verification exercises had commenced. He also disclosed that no two individuals have the same National Identification Number (NIM).

Ihejirika, who conducted newsmen round the various sections of the commission in Owerri, explained that as a body saddled with the statutory responsibility to sustain the National Identity Management System, the commission collaborates with all security agencies as well as the immigration and the National Population Commission (NPC) in the discharge of its duties. He added that the commission only registered legal residents after they had been officially identified by the Immigration Service, even as he disclosed that the exercise would capture Nigerians from 16 years of age and above.

He stated further that the exercise would not only authenticate one’s national security, promotes some transactions but would also authenticate the citizens’ identity without ambiguity, adding that “nobody else can use  it because it is well protected.”