The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has announced plans to clear outstanding payments owed to its enrollment agents known as Front-End Partners (FEPs) within the first quarter of 2024.
The agents engaged by the Commission to assist in the enrollment of Nigerians for the National Identification Number (NIN) have been lamenting the non-payment of their fees over the last two years.
However, the New Director General of the Commission, Engineer Abisoye Coker-Odusote, gave the assurance of the payment within the first quarter in a statement issued on Wednesday.
Coker-Odusote also expressed her sympathy with the FEPs who have been burdened with running their businesses for 2 years without payment.
Revalidation exercise
The NIMC DG said the revalidation exercise carried out recently for the FEPs had helped the Commission ascertain the debt.
- “The National Identity Management 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.
Lack of funds
Coker-Odusote noted that the previous management of the Commission could not clear the outstanding payments due to a lack of funds. She, however, said 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 sanitizing the system as well as ensuring efficient and effective enrolment processes in line with international best practices of securing citizens’ data,“ she added.
Backstory
Some of the FEPs that were engaged for short-term enrolment activities that commenced in 2021 had recently written a letter to the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, complaining that they have been groaning under a heavy debt burden arising from bank loans used to procure equipment and other sundry expenses, monies owed supplier of consumables and accumulation of salary arrears, owed to staff and the humongous devaluation of the Naira.
In the letter dated October 12, 2023, titled: “RE: Request For Meeting On Payment Of Outstanding Enrolment Fees To FEPS And Matters Arising In The Commission,” the FEPs sought an audience with the minister to better appreciate its difficulties.
Lamenting the non-payment of contract fees despite delivering on the project, the firms revealed that they had added over 60 million NINs to the NIMC database within the period of their engagement.
