The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has denied ever deactivating the National Identification Number (NIN) of Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore.
NIMC issued the denial in a reply to PREMIUM TIMES’ Freedom of Information (FoI) enquiry over Mr Sowore’s claim and its implications on the rights of many voiceless citizens.
The agency described Mr Sowore’s claim as “bizarre” in its February 21, 2022 reply to this newspaper, allaying concerns that many Nigerians could be suffering similar fate.
“NIMC refutes and repudiates the bizarre allegation that the NIN assigned to Mr Omoyele Sowore had been surreptitiously deactivated by the commission,” the reply signed by an assistant director at the agency, Olufemi Fadare, on behalf of the director, legal, regulatory & compliance service department, reads.
But Mr Sowore insisted on Saturday that his NIN was deactivated and was only enabled after his threat to sue NIMC, adding that neither the NIMC nor any of the relevant government agencies had officially replied to his letters on the issue.
NIMC’s clarification on the issue came weeks after Sahara Reporters reported on January 12, 2022, that Mr Sowore’s national biometric data had been deactivated by the NIMC.
The report said Mr Sowore’s voter card, driving licence and passport were also disabled.
“As a result of this, Sowore will not be able to use any of the national documents to carry out any transaction within and outside the country as the cards cannot be read biometrically,” the report stated, describing the development as “the latest attack” on the activist.
Mr Sowore, who said he learnt of the development while trying to use his national identity card for a bank transaction on January 12, had said he did not get any prior warning before it happened.
He sent copies of the letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Nigeria Police Force (NPF), National Security Adviser, State Security Service (SSS) and the Chief of Defence Staff.
PREMIUM TIMES’ enquiry
PREMIUM TIMES wrote NIMC on February 1, 2022, to seek clarifications on the issue, considering that many Nigerians, particularly the voiceless ones, could be suffering similar wanton deactivation of their NINs, going by Mr Sowore’s claim.
This newspaper sought to know if the agency’s enabling law, the NIMC Act, made provision for the deactivation of a Nigerian’s NIN, and the legal grounds that could warrant such deactivation.
PREMIUM TIMES also sought to know the laid down procedure for deactivating a person’s NIN, and if the deactivation could occur without the knowledge of the holder.
“Do you see a conflict between such deactivation and the rights of the concerned person?
“Do Nigerians and other eligible residents with NIN need to regularly check the status of their NIN to be certain it is still active?” PREMIUM TIMES also asked in its FoI letter addressed to the NIMC’s director-general requesting answers within seven days as provided for in the FoI Act.
NIMC’s reply
The agency, in its reply dated February 21, 2022, but received via e-mail on February 24, dismissed Mr Sowore’s claim.
The agency explained that enrollees’ data are never deactivated for any reason until their death.
It added that even with the death of a person, the family must send an official notification request for the NIN of the deceased to be rested.
“In response to your letter under reference, the NIMC hereby categorically states that NIN of enrollees are not deactivated for any reasons.
“NIN is only rested when the holder of the NIN dies and same is done upon an official notification request by the family of the deceased,” the agency stated.
Describing Mr Sowore’s claim as bizarre, NIMC said the activist’s records were intact in its database and the verification platform.
Mr Fadare, the NIMC official who signed the reply to this newspaper’s enquiry, said Mr Sowore’s grievances could have arisen from routine intermittent connectivity glitches in the agency’s verification service.
He stated, “NIMC refutes and repudiates the bizarre allegations that the NIN assigned to Mr Omoyele Sowore had been scrumptiously deactivated by the commission.
“A quick dive into our systems revealed that Mr Sowore’s records are well and functional on the National Identity Database (NIDB) as well as on the verification platform. Needless to state that his grievances could well be a matter of routine connectivity which causes downtime that affects the NIMC Verification Service NVS) intermittently.”
My NIN was deactivated, Sowore insists
Our reporter reached out to Mr Sowore for his comment on the clarifications offered by the NIMC on Saturday.
He insisted that his NIN was deactivated by the government, which he said was likely targeting him to prevent him from renewing his passports, opening bank accounts or obtaining other official means of identification.
“This is an issue that I made public after a bank official told me my NIN had been deactivated. It was not a connectivity issue at all.
“The official told me they rarely get such responses except the person is officially targeted to prevent them from renewing their passports, opening bank accounts, driver’s licences and other official IDs,” Mr Sowore said.
The activist, who turned 51 earlier in the month, also said he was told by an official of another bank that there was a “renewed clampdown on my accounts from the SSS.”
“I then wrote officially to NIMC giving them seven days to reactivate my NIN or face legal action.
“They did not respond but I heard from the bank two weeks later that my NIN had been reactivated
“And that Immigration had also released access to my international passport as a form of National ID but that my passport had since expired,” Mr Sowore said.
He noted that he had since used his NIN for an online application for a new bank account and it worked. But he said his “PVC (Permanent Voter Card) still remains deactivated.”
“In all these, none of the federal agencies contacted responded to my inquiries or requests in writing,” the activist added.
Until now, no relevant government agencies had officially responded to Mr Sowore’s outcry.
The spokespersons for NIMC and National Immigration Service (NIS), the government agency that issues passports to Nigerian citizens, contacted last month could not provide answer.
Sowore and Buhari administration
Mr Sowore has been targeted by Nigerian security agencies on many occasions since his arrest by the State Security Service (SSS) after declaring, in August 2019, to lead a #RevolutionNow protest against what he considered to be the Buhari administration’s poor handling of the security situation, economy, and corruption in the country.
He and a protester in Osun State, Olawale Bakare, who was also arrested by the SSS regarding the protest, are currently facing charges of treasonable felony at the Federal High Court in Abuja for allegedly planning to topple the Buhari administration with the demonstration.
Apart from seizing Mr Sowore’s passport, the court also restricted his movement to Abuja as part of his bail conditions.
But he continues to lead protests and participate in other anti-government demonstrations in Abuja. On different occasions, he ended up being manhandled or detained by the police during such public.
He had also, on numerous occasions, raised the alarm over repeated coordinated attacks on him by alleged hired thugs during protests and appearances in court.
Mr Sowore also announced a fresh arrest by the police on Thursday. He said he was released a few hours after his arrest.
PREMIUM TIMES
