The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved N30bn for a new national identity scheme for the country. The amount would take care of the first phase of the scheme, known as the Integrated National Identity Management System, which is expected to gulp N30.066bn. Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, who disclosed this at the post-FEC weekly meeting in Abuja, said the decision to embark on the fresh national registration was borne out of government’s desire to have a unified database of Nigerians who were 18 years and above. The minister added that the project would also simplify the current process where different government agencies such as the Federal Road Safety Commission, the National Health Insurance Scheme and the Independent National Electoral Commission separately capture citizens’ data for their individual use. The new system, he explained, would reduce the cost incurred by these agencies while carrying out separate registration processes. He added that the new system would also help in the area of security as the identities of many people currently residing in the country could not be verified. Upon registration, the minister said Nigerians would be issued with smartcards containing their data and that they could also present such cards for biometric purposes. He said, “The new integrated data system which will capture all Nigerians from the ages of 18 and above will bring down the cost of data processing and storage by different agencies in the country. “The project, which is to be managed by the National Identity Management Commission, is to be executed in conjunction with different agencies of government which presently keep their own separate identity data. “Such agencies include INEC, Federal Road Safety Commission, and the National Health Insurance Scheme, among others. “With the new integrated system, all existing data will be networked to create a common data base where several agencies can access for their own purposes. “The system will also bring down the cost of data management by the several public institutions, including banks, pension commission, etc. “One area where the programme will be very useful for the nation is national security management since all citizens data are expected to be captured. “The first phase of the exercise which is expected to start from this year will cost N30.066 billion to be spread across from 2011 to 2013.” Nigeria in 2007 concluded a multi-billion naira national identity card registration scheme that started in the era of Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo as military Head of State between 1976 and 1979. Maku also disclosed that the FEC approved the pooling together of professional cadre that would be responsible for planning, monitoring and evaluating government projects. He said it had been observed over time that government programmes and projects had suffered due to lack of data analysis and well-coordinated plans. “Also, evaluation of project execution and performance has been very difficult because data collection and analysis have been rather uncoordinated. “In view of the present emphasis on the execution of national transformation programmes toward the realisation of national vision 20:2020, planning should now take centre stage in the public service. “The PPS cadre will be pooled together as professional cadre and posted to MDAs to coordinate the planning, research, policy analysis and performance measurement of the MDA projects and programmes,” he explained. Maku also said that FEC continued its deliberation on the report of the Presidential Projects Assessment Committee by looking at some issues raised on some roads in the Federal Capital Territory. Discussions on the issue, he added, would continue in subsequent FEC meetings.