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PEBEC urges NIMC to review N1000 fee for NIN verification and integration

By Joke Falaju, Abuja
16 March 2023   |   9:59 am
The Presidential, Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) Secretariat, has urged the National Identity Management Agency to review the introduction of a new charge of N1000 for National Identification Number (NIN) integration and verification for each Nigerian passport applicant. PEBEC in a statement signed by the Special Adviser on Ease of Doing Business, Dr Jumoke Oduwole,…

The Presidential, Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) Secretariat, has urged the National Identity Management Agency to review the introduction of a new charge of N1000 for National Identification Number (NIN) integration and verification for each Nigerian passport applicant.

PEBEC in a statement signed by the Special Adviser on Ease of Doing Business, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, stated that the review of the charge will make it faster and cheaper for potential investors to access government services.

She pointed out that although the agreed framework with the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) to significantly improve the quality of service, accuracy and speed of passport services through the verification of NIN is a welcome development, the additional cost for each applicant has not been well received by stakeholders.

She mentioned that the provisions of the Business Facilitation also known as Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 (BFA), signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on February 8, codifying Executive Order 001 on transparency and efficiency of public service delivery for the purposes of “One Government” directed that where an applicant requires service from a ministry, department or agency (MDA), the MDA is mandated to conduct the necessary verification or certification from relevant MDAs in respect of the applicant.

She recalled that on May 18, 2017, Executive Order 001 (EO1) on Transparency and Efficiency in the Business Environment was issued as the administration’s first Executive Order to strengthen the implementation of business climate reforms and to deepen collaboration among ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) by instituting a systemic change management process for reforms.

She said: “EO1 mandates MDAs to submit monthly reports to the PEBEC Secretariat, the offices of the Head of Service (HOS) of the Federation, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), and SERVICOM.

“You will recall that on March 9, the PEBEC released its 2022 Executive Order 001 (EO1) Compliance Report in line with its promise to continuously track and keep the business community updated on the compliance with the Executive Order.”

Oduwole revealed that in the last six years, PEBEC has consistently published an EO1 Compliance Report, which captures a periodic empirical analysis of the monthly reports received from MDAs.

According to the latest EO1 Compliance Report which covered January to December 2022, the top five performing MDAs are the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) emerged first at 81.11 per cent; Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) (second, 78.68 per cent); Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council (FCCPC) (third, 68.37 per cent); Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) (fourth, 64.59 per cent) and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) (fifth, 63.68 per cent).

She maintained that “the codification of EO1 directives in the Business Facilitation Act 2022 is a major development in the efforts to entrench EO1 in the psyche of the Civil Service as it is expected that the legal provisions will serve as a stimulus for a more transparent and efficient public service delivery in Nigeria.”

The PEBEC chaired by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, was established in July 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari to remove critical bottlenecks and bureaucratic constraints to doing business in Nigeria.

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