The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has said that over 300,000 national identity cards for those who enrolled in 2012 are ready for collection.

NIMC Spokesman, Loveday Ogbonna, urged enrollees in the year 2012, up to August 2013 and who were yet to pick up their cards, to do so immediately.

Ogbonna said that those concerned should visit the enrolment centres where they registered and pick up their cards, which had since been printed and ready for collection.

He said that the commission had pasted names of enrollees whose cards had been printed and awaiting collection at various centres, to enable such individuals check and present themselves for card collection.

According to him, some of the people in this category may have changed the phone numbers they used to register, hence they are not able to receive text messages informing them that their cards are ready.

”Applicants who have relocated and want their cards transferred to their current location should visit any NIMC office closest to them to request for a card transfer form.

”They should fill and submit the form to the State Coordinator or Local Government Supervisor for processing.

”This is possible for those who either received text message or confirmed via the list pasted at the enrolment centres that their cards are ready for collection. This service is free for now and available at all enrolment centres,” he said.

Ogbonna said that the transfer process was necessitated by a survey carried out by the Customer Care Unit of the commission.

He said that the survey showed that over 300,000 enrolled applicants nationwide were yet to pick up their National e-ID cards.

Ogbonna said that the reasons were because they had either relocated from the locations where they enrolled, or had changed the phone numbers they provided at the point of enrolment into the National Identity Database (NIDB).

”Thousands of registered applicants have changed the phone numbers they provided at the point of registration, and as such, may not have received our card collection notifications, while some persons may have changed location since after enrolment.

”We want to use this medium to appeal to any of such persons to visit any NIMC Enrolment Centre close to them to request for Card transfer,” the NIMC said in a statement. (NAN)