Elections: FG okays INEC’s national ID cards plan

Federal Executive Council on Wednesday okayed the Independent National Electoral Commission’s request to use the National Identity Cards as voter cards beginning from the 2023 general elections. Information Minister, Mr. Labaran Maku, stated this in Abuja at the end of the weekly FEC meeting presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Education Minister, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, and her Women Affairs and Social Development counterpart, Hajia Zaynab Maina, joined Maku at the briefing.
He said the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, unfolded the plan while defending a memorandum seeking council’s approval for the production of additional 33.5 million permanent voter cards for Nigerians.
Maku said, “One of the issues deliberated by the council was the disclosure by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, that INEC is gradually moving towards the adoption of the expected National Identity Card which will be used as a document for voting in future elections.
“Jega disclosed this today while answering questions on a memo for the printing of 33.5 million voter cards for INEC.
“According to Jega, the nation must begin to prepare towards adopting the National Identity Card for all future elections by voters. This is because the idea of having a national ID card and then having separate voter cards will simply be duplication and waste of resources.
“Towards this end, INEC has adopted a new card that will last only for about 10 years. The presumption is that the present permanent voter card by INEC might be used for 2015 and possibly 2019 elections.
“As the nation prepares to ensure that every Nigerian has a national ID card, INEC is preparing that at the expiration of the yet to be issued national voter cards, the national ID card that is in the process will now be the document that every Nigerian will use to vote in all elections in the country.”
The minister said the council approved the production of the 33.5million permanent voter cards  under the second phase at the rate of N65 per card.
He said the award of the contract to ACT Technologies Limited was in the sum of N2.1bn with a completion period of six months.
Rufa’i also said the council approved the institutionalisation of six-level National Vocational Qualification Framework and the placement of National Vocational Qualifications in the scheme of service.
She said the decision to adopt the national framework was born out of the conviction that technical skill acquisition was very critical to the present administration’s goals.
Maina, who had earlier briefed the council of the achievements and challenges of her ministry in 2012, raised the alarm over the increasing incidence of rape in the country.
To stem the tide, the minister said she had made an advocacy visit to the Inspector-General of Police, Muhammed Abubakar, on the need to appoint gender officers for every police station in the country.
She added that her ministry had started lobbying state Houses of Assembly and the National Assembly on the need to make punishments for rape more severe.