The National Identity Management Commission (NI MC) has
inaugurated a National Public
Key Infrastructure (PKI) for the NIMS implementation and
subsequent issuance of the multipurpose national identity card in Nigeria.
The Director General of NIMC, Barrister Chris 'E. Onyemenam
who disclosed this during the official launch of the NIMC's PKI security
platform noted that the launch is a historical, milestone in the history of
Identity Management in Nigeria.
He explained that the PKI consists of a self-assigned root
Certificate Authority (CA) and a trusted Registration and subordinate
certificate Authority (RA and CA) owned and administered by NIMC.
According to him, the PKI will provide the framework of
services, technology, protocols and standards that will enable the deployment
and management of a strong information security system based on public key
cryptography.
Onyemenam added that the PKI will lead to the
personalisation and issuance of a secure National Identity Card that will be
recognised and generally accepted globally.
He said: "The National PKI is an infrastructure that
ensures e-ID security which is the security backbone on which the national
identity card stands. The successful test-run of the public key infrastructure
(PKI) is an indication that the national identity card to be issued by NIMC
will be sitting on a secured platform."
Speaking further on the ID card, the DG explained that the
chip on the ID card provides security that prevents private key document from
being accessed without prior authorization from the issuing authority (NIMC).
"The commission must issue a certificate to
authenticate and guarantee official transaction before anyone can have access
into the digitally secured document," he said.
In the same vein, Mr. Adam Ross the cryptovision Brand
Manager pointed out that adequate security had been imbedded in the card at
every level and the chip being delivered is the most modern travel card
operating platform that enables it to be used for multiple purposes which has a
very high level of security.
He stated that the key document or private key information
stored in the chip is protected by hardware, thus the chip itself prevents the
card from being accessed by anyone else except the card holder.
On the issuance of the e-ID card, the NIMC boss noted that
"the commission will put in place a door to door collection arrangement
amongst others.”
He also added that when the card is ready, it will take
between one to four weeks for a successful applicant to receive his card.
He emphasised that the one month interval is deliberate to
allow necessary checks by security agencies, de-duplication and other post enrolment
processes before the card is issued. He however noted that it could be less
than 4 weeks as time progresses.
The DG further invited Nigerians to use the NIMC online pre-enrolment
portal on www.ninenrol.gov.ng assuring that the portal was capable of
accommodating everyone even if the whole Nigeria chose to enrol at once.
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