FG may replace BVN with NIN, says Pantami

THE Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, has said the Federal Government is considering replacement of Bank Verification Number with National Identity Numbers.

Pantami said he had drawn the attention of relevant institutions to the likelihood of the action, adding that he had even made a presentation to the National Economic Sustainability Committee.

The minister was briefing newsmen after a facility tour and inspection of the ongoing NIN enrolment exercise at NIMC and other designated centres in Abuja.

Explaining the difference between the two ‘identification numbers, Pantami noted that while BVN is a regulator’s policy, NIN is a law. He added, however, that NIN takes precedence over BVN.

He said, “The strength of the law wherever you go is not the same with a policy of one institution.’’

The minister noted that BVN is only applicable to those who had a bank accounts while NIN is for every citizen and legal resident in the country.

“BVN is our secondary database, while NIN and the database is the primary one in the country that each and every institution should make reference to NIMC,” he said.

Pantami reiterated the safety of generated data in the custody of his ministry boasting that the level of security in the entire database is 99.9%.

He said, “That is why we came up with the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation that we always enforce and this is applicable to the database at our disposal.

“We take care of it and make sure that security is excellent and we don’t allow anybody to compromise the content because it is a trust from our citizens given to us.’’

Giving reasons the government engaged private agents for the NIN enrolment, the minister said the move is in line with the global standard.

He emphasised the need for NIMC to focus on regulatory work and set the standards for biometrics registration, measuring of heights, standard for data to be collected and general verification.