The National Identification Authority (NIA) has lamented over what it describes as a huge number of printed Ghana Cards in its custody.

According to the Head of Corporate Affairs at the NIA, Abudu Abdul Ganiyu, the Authority has in its possession over 2 million Ghana Cards yet to be collected by the respective applicants.

"The biggest obstacle, for now, is unclaimed cards. We still have so many cards in the districts and the regional offices that people have to go for," he said.

Speaking on the Super Morning Show, on Thursday, February 17, 2022, he explained that “during the mass registration, there were quite a couple of cards that we couldn’t print whiles we were on the field.

“But when we came to the headquarters, we were able to print all of them and have sent them to our regional and district offices. But unfortunately, we still have a lot of these cards in our inventory and this comes as a cost to us,” he said.

"We have printed them and we're just asking people [the owners] to come so we issue these cards to them," he added.

He, thus, entreated anyone who is yet to receive their cards to go to NIA district and regional offices in their respective communities for their cards.

Listeners who called into the show raised various concerns about the exercise, including allegations that NIA officials demand money before proceeding with the registration process. Mr. Abdul Ganiyu stated that any demand in that respect is illegal.

He emphasised that "you don't pay for the Ghana card to be issued. First-time registration and issuance are free.

The only instances where payments are required are when "you visit the premium center for a Ghana, [which requires you to pay GH₵250], or when you lose your card and you want a replacement or there's an update you want to make, you pay GH₵30.00.

"Then, the institutionalised and household registration where you should be five or more and each person pays GH₵150. These are the only instances where fees apply," he said.

He stated that any other charge other than the aforementioned is criminal and said the authority has liaised with the Ghana Police Service to curb this. He disclosed that there have been a number of arrests in this regard, although he didn't disclose the exact number.