Oyo Launches ₦1,000 QR-Coded ID Cards For Traders, Artisans, Others

The Oyo State Government has commenced a statewide data capture and identity card registration exercise for traders, artisans, cooperative members and industrialists across the 33 local government areas of the state.

The initiative, being coordinated by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Investment and Cooperatives, is aimed at creating a verified database of economic operators to strengthen economic planning and improve access to government interventions.

Under the programme, each beneficiary will receive a chip-enabled, QR-coded identity card in ATM format at a cost of ₦1,000.

According to the state government, the fee will be payable into the beneficiary’s own account as part of measures to ensure transparency in the registration process.

The government said the registration would be linked to beneficiaries’ National Identification Numbers (NIN) and Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) to prevent duplication and fraudulent claims.

It said consultants engaged for the exercise would visit markets, trade associations and business clusters across the state to facilitate the registration of eligible beneficiaries.

The government explained that the exercise would provide a reliable database that could be used to identify economic operators and improve the targeting of government programmes.

It said the initiative was designed to support “economic planning and improve access to government interventions.”

The state government added that registered beneficiaries should expect their identity cards to be ready within one month of their data capture.

The exercise covers traders, artisans, members of cooperative societies and industrialists operating across Oyo State’s 33 local government areas.