MANDATORY USE OF NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER REGULATIONS 2017 (Government Notice No. 123)*
The above named regulation released by the Nigerian Identity Management commission appears to have unsettled many lawyers as the possession of the National identity number will become a criteria that will henceforth regulate how lawyers do their business in Nigeria.
The apprehension could be related to the fact that a lot of Lawyers and Indeed Nigerians are yet to obtain the number.
However, Courtroom mail went through the regulation and discovered that there is hope in the horizon for Lawyers who do not frequent the Federal High Court because the interpretation section of the regulation defined court to mean Federal High Court.
This however may not be good news entirely as so many other areas of practice are dependent on the possession of the National Identity Number(NIN).
Regulation 1 (1) provides thus-
“In accordance with provisions of section 27 (1) (1) of the Act , the use of the National Identification Number (NIN) shall be mandatory for the following additional transactions-
(u) filing and registration of criminal and civil actions in courts or other arbitration process;
(oo) executing any contract or business agreement ;
(pp) tenancy agreements;
(qq) obtaining and processing of probate documents ;
(rr) all transactions involving the acquisition, use or transfer of parcel of land or landed properties ;
(ss) any transaction, contract or agreement for a valuable consideration and for the transfer of any interest, tangible or intangible
