Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, who was alleged to have links to the Boko Haram terrorists, has announced plans to have Nigerians in the United States enrolled on the controversial National Identity Number database.
The Consulate General of Nigeria in New York, which disclosed this, said the move is part of Pantami’s push to have citizens’ private information on the national database.
The Consul General, Lot Egopija, stated this at a “hybrid” town hall meeting held at Nigeria House in New York for Nigerians residing in the area.
Egopija revealed that the consulate received a directive from the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs to enrol its Nigerians living in the United States, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
The Nigerian envoy added that the consulate would soon conclude arrangements with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) on the NIN registration.
Egopija recalled that when he assumed office as the consul general a few months ago, he pledged to have regular interactive sessions with Nigerians living in the US to get feedback and update them with developments at the consulate general.
The NIN initiative has earlier ignited controversies due to Pantami’s past relationship and utterances regarding terror entities, including Al Qaeda, the Taliban and Boko Haram.
The minister had recently extended the National Identity Number (NIN)-Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) data verification to October 31.
