Abuja: The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) has denied allegations by some Nigerian nurses that its licensing and registration portal has been down for an extended period. The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the council, Dr. Ndaji Alhassan, stated that the claim was untrue, explaining that the portal remained operational and accessible to applicants.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Alhassan disclosed this in an interview, revealing that the council recently partnered with two firms to manage the licensing process under a two-phase structure covering pre-clinical and clinical services. He detailed that the pre-clinical phase involves data collection managed by one firm, while another firm handles the clinical service stage with the transferred data.
Alhassan mentioned that the council had ended its partnership with the firm previously responsible for the pre-clinical component. This termination led to challenges in transferring data to the new service provider as some nurses had already submitted their information to the former firm. Initially, the former firm had difficulties releasing the data for affected nurses to the new firm managing the clinical service stage.
To address the issue, the registrar explained that the council launched a new portal and directed nurses to log in and update their professional information and biodata. Once applicants completed the necessary updates on the portal, the licensing and renewal process could proceed without hitches.
Alhassan indicated that nurses seeking to renew their licenses only needed to log into the portal and fill in the required details. The system also allows applicants to choose their preferred delivery location for the renewed licenses. Licenses are often sent to applicants’ home addresses, the secretariats of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives in various states, state ministries of health, teaching hospitals, or nearby offices, depending on their selected delivery option.
He further explained that the portal includes several stages that applicants must complete before accessing the license renewal section. Users attempting to proceed directly to the license stage without updating their professional information might encounter access issues. Once applicants complete the required steps and make payment, their licenses can be processed and ready within 24 hours.