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NIMC, ALGON Join Hands for Enrollment Centres in LGAs

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Chris Onyemenam, director general, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), has called on the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) to support, partner and cooperate with NIMC to enable the Commission establish enrolment centres in the 774 local governments in the country for effective grassroots NIN registration exercise.

Onyemenam, who was speaking at the pre-summit meeting of first Local Government Areas (LGAs) Summit on the National Identity Management System (NIMS) held with ALGON members in Abuja, said NIMC was in a hurry to set-up enrolment centres and commence local government NIN registration quickly, hence the need for this collaboration.

“We are established by Act No. 23 of 2007 to foster on orderly development of an identity sector and build a modern identity management system for Nigeria, we do four important things, the first has to do with the creation of National Identity Management Database, Manage Identity Authentication and Verification Service Infrastructure, Establish Registration Centres in every state capital and with your cooperation and support in every local government area, and then we can begin to talk of issuing National Identity Card”.

 “If we are unable to build a database founded on a system that can enable us at any point in time to update our records, we would not have a national identity management system. If we have no way of telling the identity of an individual and affirming that identity, we will not be able to collect government revenues properly both at Federal, State and local government levels and we be unable to fight crime and criminal activities especially those that are related with identity of an individual”.

While welcoming and appreciating the ALGON members, mostly chairmen of local government councils and other executives for honouring the commission’s invitation the DG noted that the essence of the meeting was to introduce them to the journey of carrying out massive local government NIN enrolment that NIMC believes its success lie on the effective and efficient collaboration and cooperation between ALGON and NIMC in order to deliver on the mandate.

In his remark, Chief Nwabueze Okafor, national chairman of ALGON, called on members to recall the long journey of Nigeria in implementing the National Identity Project and see it as the project that must be completed, stressing that NIMC under the new management has demonstrated good handling competencies by deploying modern technology systems in line with international standard that have enough capacity to meet the yeaning and aspiration of the Federal Government and people of Nigeria.

Chief Nwabueze, who spoke through the Local Government Area Summit Consultant and ALGON executive, Mr. Felix Imoisili, said that the summit has been grouped into three zones with locations in Abuja to cover North-East, North-Central and North-West; Lagos location to cover south-West and the last will hold in Asaba to cover South-South and South-East.

The arrangement will cover all zones and eliminate challenges that will come up if 774 local government chairmen should gather in one hall for such a meeting. 

He said that NIMC was wise in taking this step, knowing fully-well the great success that will be recorded in using ALGON to reach grassroots for the NIN registration.

In the same vein all ALGON members present promised to support and assist NIMC in the implementation of the NIMS Projects in their various states and Local Government Areas.


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E-Business

Microsoft Servers Hacked by Chinese Groups

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Chinese “threat actors” have hacked Microsoft’s SharePoint document software servers and targeted the data of the businesses using it, the firm has said.

Microsoft Servers Hacked by Chinese Groups

 

China state-backed Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon as well as China-based Storm-2603 were said to have “exploited vulnerabilities” in on-premises SharePoint servers, the kind used by firms, but not in its cloud-based service.

The US tech giant has released security updates in response and has advised all on-premises SharePoint server customers to install them.

“Investigations into other actors also using these exploits are still ongoing,” Microsoft said in a statement.

The firm said it had “high confidence” the hackers would continue to target systems which have not installed its security updates.

It added that it would update its website blog with more information as its investigation continues.

Microsoft said it had observed attacks in which hackers had sent a request to a SharePoint server “enabling the theft of the key material by threat actors”.

Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at Mandiant Consulting firm, a division of Google Cloud, told reporter, it was “aware of several victims in several different sectors across a number of global geographies”.

Carmakal said it appeared that governments and businesses that use SharePoint on their sites were the primary target.

A number of adversaries who stole material encoded by cryptography were then able to regain ongoing access to the victims’ SharePoint data, he said.

“This was exploited in a very broad way, very opportunistically before a patch was made available. That’s why this is significant,” Carmakal said.

Carmakal said the “China-nexus actor” was deploying techniques similar to previous campaigns associated with Beijing.

Microsoft said Linen Typhoon had “focused on stealing intellectual property, primarily targeting organizations related to government, defence, strategic planning, and human rights” for 13 years.

It added that Violet Typhoon had been “dedicated to espionage”, primarily targeting former government and military staff, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, higher education, the media, the financial sector and the health sector in the US, Europe, and East Asia.

Meanwhile, Storm-2603 was “assessed with medium confidence to be a China-based threat actor”.

 

 

 


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NIMC Warns Nigerians of Fake NIN Website

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National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued a public warning that it is not associated with NINcard.com.

NIMC Warns Nigerians of Fake NIN Website

According to the commission, the website has been circulating online to offer services for Nigerians seeking National Identification Number (NIN) services.

NIMC, in a post on its official X account on Wednesday, said, “NINcard.com is not in anyway affiliated to NIMC. Stay vigilant!”

The warning was accompanied by screenshots of fake payment receipts and OTP request pages from the website, both of which were boldly stamped “FAKE” by NIMC to alert the public.


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NITDA, API Partner Against Harmful Online Content

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National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), in partnership with the Advocacy for Policy and Innovation (API), has convened a one-day workshop in Abuja to advance dialogue on the draft Online Harm Protection (OHP) Bill to confront harmful online content.

NITDA, API Partner Against Harmful Online Content

The bill, a rights-based, locally rooted, and multi-stakeholder initiative, is aimed at addressing the challenges of the digital age.

The event, which held yesterday, brought together government officials, civil society, academics, digital platforms, and legal experts to shape a policy framework designed to combat online ills such as cyberbullying, disinformation, hate speech, digital exploitation, and gender-based violence, while safeguarding democratic freedoms and digital inclusion.

In his keynote remarks, Kashifu Inuwa, director general, NITDA urged a paradigm shift in the way society engages with digital technologies.

“For almost two decades, we have viewed digital technology through a consumer lens. But these technologies are not just products and services. They are transforming how we live, work, and interact. They shape our politics, our society, and our democracy,” he said.

Warning against unaccountable digital power in the hands of private corporations, the DG likened the digital journey to the tale of Alice in Wonderland, where initial fascination with innovation has given way to deeper concerns about privacy, autonomy, and manipulation by big tech platforms.

“We thought we were using Google, but now we realise Google is using us. Social media, once a tool of expression, has become a tool of surveillance and influence,” Inuwa noted.

He, therefore, emphasised the urgency of developing a democratic and accountable framework.  He explained that following the 2021 Twitter ban, NITDA facilitated dialogue between the government and platform operators, leading to a Code of Practice that stressed Nigeria’s sovereignty and legal standards.

According to him, the same process birthed the multi-stakeholder steering committee and the OHP White Paper in December 2024, laying the foundation for the current legislative push.

Earlier in her opening remarks,  Victoria Manya, co-founder, API, observed the moral and civic necessity of the bill.

Her words: “The internet did not break society, it merely revealed its unfiltered version. Every day, Nigerians are exposed to harassment, disinformation, exploitation, and even algorithmic violence. The OHP Bill is not a war on the Internet. It is a peace offering to its users, a social contract for a digital future that is safe, inclusive, and democratic.

“We cannot answer the question of algorithmic power with unchecked state control. We must answer it with shared, rights-based governance. This bill must not be written for the people, but with them.”


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