Reps threaten to arrest NIMC DG over refusal to pay for software development service

The Nigerian House of Representatives has threatened to order the arrest of the Director General and the Chief Executive Officer (DG/CEO) of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Abisoye Coker-Odusote over failure to pay a piece of technology currently in use by the commission.

This was disclosed in a statement by the Media Head of the Public Petitions Committee of the House of Representatives, Chook Oko. According to Oko, the DG/CEO has been summoned to appear in person and answer charges of refusal to pay for a state-of-the-art software development project installed and deployed to the commission by a private firm, Truid Limited.

Unfortunately, Mrs Coker-Odusote has refused to appear before the committee despite numerous invitations. To this end, the House Committee on Public Petitions said it would have no other choice but to order her arrest if she failed to show up for the next hearing.

“If she fails to show up at the next hearing of this case, we’ll have no option than to ask the Inspector General of police to bring her. How can an official of government treat constituted authority with such levity? We can no longer condone such attitude,” the statement reads.

More on the NIMC vs Truid Limited matter

According to the statement, the National Identity Commission was dragged before the committee by Truid Limited, a software installation company. In its petition, the technology company, through its counsel, E.R. Opara, argued that it had an agreement with the NIMC in 2021 whereby Truid Limited funded, developed and deployed a tokenization system without any financial obligation from the NIMC.

In return, Truid was to recuperate its investment by getting a share of the revenue generated through the software deployed. The revenue-sharing formula has already been agreed to and the agreement was to run for an initial period of 10 years starting from 2021 when the technology was deployed. This was under the former DG, Aliyu A. Aziz.

Things were going smoothly from 2021 through August 2023 when Coker-Odusote was appointed as the new DC. She would then cancel the arrangement. Truid is therefore alleging a breach of the license agreement by NIMC.

Reacting to the submissions of the counsels of both the petitioners and the respondents, the Chairman of the Committee, Mike Etaba frowned on the continuous absence of the NIMC Director General despite several invitations. He then directed her to appear at the next hearing or risk a visit by security operatives.

NIMC recent strides in identity management

While the agreement with Truid Limited isn’t going as planned, the National Identity Management Commission has been making some decent strides in identity management. The commission recently launched a new multipurpose national ID card. It also announced its partnership with Nigerian banks to allow citizens to request and collect their cards from any bank branch, making the process more accessible.

As part of its plans to bridge financial inclusion, NIMC also expressed that the new card will enable both means of identification and financial transactions.

The National Multipurpose Identity Card was introduced as part of a collaborative effort involving the NIMC, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS). Powered by AfriGO, the card is designed to address the diverse needs of Nigerians, offering a seamless blend of identification and financial services.

This innovative solution is layered with verifiable biometric features, such as fingerprint and photo authentication, and complies with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards. It also includes a machine-readable zone (MRZ) for international usage, making it a tool for travel and access to government services like social benefits and transfers.

See also: All you need to know about the new NIMC plastic identity card