The federal government through the Managing Director of the Nigeria Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP), Uzoma Nwagba, said loan defaulters may soon be denied access to essential services such as passport renewal, driver’s licence issuance, and even renting a home.
Nwagba announced this on Tuesday at a ‘Meet the Press’ session organised by the Presidential Media Team at the State House in Abuja.
The CREDICORP boss revealed that government is in the process of linking individual credit scores directly to the National Identification Number (NIN), in a bid to build a centralised and reliable credit system across the country.
Also in the pipeline as per Nwagba is plan by government to make it compulsory for financial institutions such as commercial banks, FinTechs, and microfinance banks to report loan performance, which would bring about traceable credit score.
“Maybe you want to renew your passport, but if something shows that you owe money somewhere, you may not be able to proceed.
“The same applies to renewing your driver’s license or renting a house. There is no hiding place,” he explained.
“Whether your money is in a commercial bank, FinTech, or microfinance institution, loans taken and not repaid will be tracked and recoverable,” he added.
Nwagba also communicated plans to roll out a nationwide consumer credit programme targeting 400,000 young Nigerians, beginning with National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members under the YouthCred scheme.
“The President has made it clear that improving lives is a top priority. If people can access credit responsibly, it reduces the pressure that pushes them into corruption or financial missteps. At the same time, it drives demand for Nigerian products and helps create jobs,” he equally stated.
