Accra, Feb. 26, GNA - President John Atta Mills on Friday morning availed himself of the current National Identification exercise being conducted nation wide.

The President presented himself for the registration process at the Osu Castle Gardens in Accra.

He said the exercise was very important because the National Identification Card could serve very vital reasons. President Mills urged all Ghanaians who have not yet made themselves available for the exercise to do so. He gave the assurance that Government would offer the necessary assistance to make the exercise successful. In a chat with journalists, Dr William Ahadzie, Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority, said the exercise in the Greater Accra Region ended on Feb 11, explaining that a mopping up exercise in the densely populated areas would end by the March 5. Consequently, few centres are still running at Tema and Ashaiman; Mallam and Gbawe and Nima.

Dr Ahadzie announced that the registration would soon move to the Ashanti Region by March 21 and run through the first week of June. He said the exercise was free and called on the public to report any attempts by officials to extort money from them. Dr Ahadzie said the Authority would mount an extensive education campaign on the registration details for people to know their house numbers, hometowns and districts.

He warned the public against registering more than once and attempt to obstruct the exercise, saying such actions carried severe sanctions.