FG to deploy digital addresses nationwide to combat fraud, insecurity

The Federal Government of Nigeria is set to launch a nationwide digital postcode system aimed at bolstering national security, curbing fraud, streamlining emergency services, and boosting e-commerce. This initiative will assign a unique digital address to every building across the country, including those in rural areas.

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The first set of locations, areas and states will be released in October this year, and I’m pushing them hard to ensure that we cover a significant number of states before the end of the year.

Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, announced the plan at a workshop in Abuja. He explained that the digital addresses will enable security agencies, businesses, and public institutions to precisely identify and locate individuals and properties. This addresses a long-standing challenge in Nigeria, where the lack of a standardized addressing system has complicated crime investigations, emergency responses, and identity verification.

Tijani highlighted that the absence of accurate address identification has created loopholes exploited by fraudsters and hindered the effectiveness of security operations. The new digital postcode system is expected to improve intelligence gathering, enhance operational efficiency for agencies like the police and DSS, and support faster emergency dispatch.

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For those who participate in keeping our country safe, we all know that you are operating in an environment where timeliness, precision and coordination are at the core of security. This determines whether crimes are solved, whether threats are contained and whether people’s lives are saved or not.

The first phase of the rollout is slated for October, with the government targeting substantial coverage of several states before the end of the year. The minister stressed that this is not a pilot program but a full-scale national rollout, signifying a major step towards modernizing the country's infrastructure and addressing critical development challenges.

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In some cases, evidence shows that it has enabled fraud because identity verification systems could not consistently anchor people to physical locations. So even when you know the people by their name or BVN, where do you go to find them? It is still a major problem.