The Director General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Aliyu Aziz Abubakar, has said that about 36 million Nigerians have been captured in the national identity database currently.

According to him, in 2017 alone, the Commission registered 14 million people, doubling the seven million captured in the preceding year and that now the figure has risen to about 36 million.

Abubakar gave these details when he hosted the Auditor-General for the Federation (AuGF), Anthony Mkpe Ayine, during the latter’s familiarization visit to the commission last Thursday.

He restated the commission’s commitment to creating an identity management system where every Nigerian is given a distinct identity for ease of reference at all levels of information management.

Earlier in his remarks, the Auditor-General for the Federation (AuGF) said that the responsibility to carry out audits of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), as well as on all government parastatals, commissions, etc, remained that of his office.

He pointed out that the clarification became necessary following recent information received by his office that some agencies were demanding for certain information from MDAs that directly concerned the statutory responsibility of the OAuGF.

He buttressed his position with the provisions of Section 85 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which exclusively conferred the duty of federal public sector audit on his office.

Ayine promised that the OAuGF would continue to support and collaborate with the Commission to help it fulfil its mandate.

He said: “We are keen about value addition, as we believe that our work should impact positively on the audited organization, thereby helping it to function optimally.

“So, if there are issues on audit that are not clear, or areas where you feel the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation can provide any form of assistance, our doors are wide open”, the AuGF added.