Garowe, Puntland – The Puntland State of Somalia has officially launched its initiative to establish an independent national identity system with the signing of a Presidential Decree by President Said Abdullahi Deni to form the Puntland Public Identification Authority (PID).

According to an official statement released Wednesday by the Puntland Presidency, the decree follows a recommendation submitted by the Ministry of Interior of Puntland. The PID will be responsible for issuing Puntland’s own identity card — a system that will operate separately from the Federal Government’s National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA).

“The President of Puntland, after considering the proposal from the Ministry of Interior, has decreed the establishment of the Puntland Public Identification Authority (PID), which comes into effect immediately,” the statement declared.

This development comes amid growing tensions between Puntland and the Federal Government, particularly over issues related to constitutional reform and electoral processes. Puntland has consistently opposed the federal NIRA system, citing concerns over political manipulation and unagreed-upon elections.

On March 18, Puntland’s Ministry of Interior announced its own plan to create a regional identification card, signaling its intent to bypass the federal ID framework. The announcement came just two days after Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre declared that public and private services would no longer be available to citizens lacking the NIRA-issued ID.

This new move by Puntland is widely seen as a further assertion of its administrative independence over internal affairs and may deepen the political divide between the regional state and Mogadishu.