Amid NIN data breach concerns, World Bank disburses $45.5m for Nigeria’s ID4D project

Amid growing concerns about the safety of Nigerians’ data, fresh data from the World Bank has revealed that the sum of $45.5 million has been disbursed to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) under the Digital Identification for Development (ID4D) project aimed at enrolling more Nigerians for the National Identification Number (NIN).

According to the project’s implementation report published by the Bank, the fund was disbursed in multiple tranches between December 2021 and April 2024 and disbursement is still ongoing.

The $45 million so far released represents about 10.5% of the total project’s cost, which is put at $430 million.

Despite the passage of the June 1, 2024 deadline set for the enrollment of 148 million Nigerians, the Bretton Woods institute described the progress of the project so far as ‘moderately satisfactory’.

READ ALSO:NIMC dismisses reports on breach of database

So far, 107.3 million NIN had been issued as of April this year, NIMC disclosed in its latest report.

Earlier, Paradigm Initiative, an organization advocating for data rights across Africa had revealed how the NIN slip of the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani was purchased online for just N100 triggering concerns about the safety of data of Nigerians online.

According to the Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative, Mr. Gbenga Sesan, he lamented that contrary to Saturday’s warning by NIMC that Nigerians should desist from sharing their data with fraudulent websites, the data being sold on the websites were sourced directly from the government’s databases.

He noted that the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has not been doing enough to protect Nigerians’ data, the Paradigm Initiative Director said the data breach has grave security implications for all Nigerians.

By: Babajide Okeowo

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