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NIMC to offset two year backlog of payment to FEPs in Q1 2024
Mariam Sanni
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) intends to clear outstanding payment owed to its Front-End Partners(FEPs) for a period of 2 years within the first quarter of 2024.
The New Director General of the Commission, Engineer Abisoye Coker-Odusote who gave this assurance in a statement issued in Abuja also expressed her sympathy with the FEPs who have been burdened with running their businesses for 2 years without payment.
She said: “The National Identity Management Commission, under my leadership has conducted a revalidation exercise to review the outstanding payments which the new management inherited with a view to offsetting the debt after going through due audit process to validate the claims made by the FEPs.
“In the process, we found out that some of the invoices submitted by the FEPs did not tally with the enrolment figures shown on the database thus prompting the revalidation exercise to confirm the true and accurate enrolment information.
“Notwithstanding, we are wrapping up the audit process, and the activation of the FEPs will be done according to the outcome of the validation exercise.
“We sympathise with our partners over the delay and appeal for understanding especially as the new NIMC management is just a few months in the saddle and had been working on resolving all inherited debts.
“Unfortunately, the previous management could not clear the outstanding dues because of lack of funds but we are working hard to source for the funds to clear the debt.
“I therefore use the opportunity to reiterate that the revalidation exercise was aimed at sanitizing the system as well as ensuring efficient and effective enrolment processes in line with international best practices of securing citizens’ data.”
The Commission assured concerned Nigerians that payment will be made to the Front-end Partners in the first quarter of 2024 and added that there are plans to hold a stakeholders engage
News
AWESSA 2026: Customs Assures Border Cooperation for Women Entrepreneurs
By James Samuel, Abuja
The Nigeria Customs Service has said the nation’s borders must become gateways of opportunity for African women entrepreneurs, not obstacles that kill their businesses.
This was disclosed at the African Women’s Economic Sovereignty Summit and Awards (AWESSA) 2026 held at the Customs House, corporate headquarters of the Nigeria Customs Service in Abuja.
Representing the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, his representative, an Assistant Controller, said hosting the summit inside Customs premises was deliberate.
“That this summit holds within the Customs premises is no accident. It is a statement of intent,” he said.
“The border is where the promise of every African trader either comes alive or dies quietly. And the men and women of this Service have resolved that for every woman entrepreneur of this continent, that promise will never die.”
He said women account for an estimated 70% of informal cross-border trade in Africa and over half of agricultural labour, yet they face documentation, standards, finance and harassment challenges.
“Too often she meets the border as an obstacle rather than a gateway. Because she trades in small volumes, in cash, in informality without formal papers, capable business women are now trapped in informality, invisible to trade statistics,” he noted.
He added: “AfCFTA will not be delivered by treaties alone. It will be delivered at border posts, in conference halls, and in market stores.”
Also speaking, the Executive Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Mrs. Nonye Ayeni, represented by a Director, said women are central to Nigeria’s non-oil export sector.
According to her, NEPC’s focus is now on building export- ready competitive enterprises through programmes like the Women in Export Initiative, Export Clinic, and Zero to Export.
“Our focus is no longer on encouraging exports alone, it is on building competitive export-ready enterprises. We are supporting women to move beyond production into value addition, quality assurance, standard compliance, branding and market positioning,” she said.
She said AfCFTA offers a market of over one billion people, but women need knowledge, certifications and institutional support.
“Empowering women economically is one of the most effective tools for achieving poverty reduction, food security, job creation and inclusive growth,” she stated.
The Convener, Helen Okon, who is the Publisher of Business Review Africa & Africa Today Magazine, as well as representatives of NAFDAC DG and NEXIM Bank MD, reaffirmed commitment to supporting women-owned businesses access standards, certification and finance.
The summit, with the theme of positioning women as drivers of trade and sustainable development, is part of activities marking the International Year of the Women Farmer.
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