Nigerians applying to change their date of birth on the National Identification Number database will now be required to provide an electronic civil registration and vital statistics system certificate from the National Population Commission, according to the National Identity Management Commission.
The Commission announced this in new date of birth change rules issued on Sunday via its X account. In addition to the certificate, NIMC stated that copies of other valid papers, such as identity and modification application letters, will henceforth be addressed to the DG/CEO, NIMC.
Previously, simply an affidavit and a payment of N15,000 were necessary for age and other changes to the NIN system.
According to the Commission, date of birth changes can now only be made once in a lifetime and only at NIMC enrolment facilities. It cautioned that its licensed representatives are not permitted to do date of birth and other types of change.
Meanwhile, some Nigerians wishing to change their date of birth on the NIN database have raised fear that the new guidelines will further delay the process at NIMC.
There have also been reports of extortion and intentional delays at the NIMC centers.
However, the Commission’s new Director-General, Engineer Abisoye Coker-Odusote, stated that she is striving to remove all sorts of unethical behaviour within the commission. She also recently revealed that the Commission had cleared a backlog of over 2.5 million NIN adjustments.
President Bola Tinubu introduced the NPC’s e-CRVS platform last month, which digitalizes all civil papers including as birth and stillbirth registration, birth attestation, adoption, marriage notice, divorce notification, migration, and death.
According to the Chairman of the NPC, Nasir Kwarra, the e-CRVS was part of Nigeria’s strategy of complying with the resolutions of the 2022 African Ministers Conference and scaling up the automated process in Nigeria.
He went on to say that the system “provides a digital certificate in all cases, a platform for verification to registered organizations, and a central management system (dashboard) that depicts and analyses collated civil registrations into vital statistics for proper decision-making.”
According to the chairman, the process signified a complete shift from traditional paper-based recording of critical events to a cutting-edge digital solution that adheres to international best standards.
He went on to say that the eCRVS system will change the way crucial events were recorded, tracked, and analyzed in the country.
