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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Elections & Politics

Tinubu orders NIMC to enroll all Nigerians, sets 2026 deadline

From The Punch · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • President Bola Tinubu has directed the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to enroll all Nigerians in the national identity database by the end of 2026.
  • The initiative aims to create a comprehensive national identity system to support governance, planning, and service delivery.
  • NIMC is partnering with private entities under the World Bank's ID4D project to accelerate nationwide enrollment and ensure unique identification through biometrics.

President Bola Tinubu has mandated the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to complete the enrollment of every Nigerian into the national identity database by the close of 2026. This directive is a cornerstone of the Federal Government's strategy to establish a robust national identity system crucial for effective governance, planning, and service delivery.

The President has given us till the end of this year to make sure that we capture every single Nigerian.

— Abisoye Coker-OdusoteDirector-General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Identity Management Commission, on the presidential directive.

NIMC's Director-General, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, revealed that the commission is collaborating with partners through the World Bank-supported Identification for Development (ID4D) project to expedite the enrollment process across the country. These partners are private entities empowered to enroll citizens on NIMC's behalf, integrating them into the digital identity ecosystem.

Coker-Odusote emphasized that the National Identification Number (NIN) serves as a unique identifier, preventing individuals from being enrolled more than once. The exercise is also expected to provide an accurate count of Nigeria's population, which is currently estimated to range between 200 and 250 million. "Your identity is basically the foundation for effective governance and service delivery," she stated, highlighting the importance of knowing the exact population for planning purposes.

Your identity is basically the foundation for effective governance and service delivery. How can you plan if you don’t know the total number of persons that you have?

— Abisoye Coker-OdusoteDirector-General and Chief Executive Officer of NIMC, explaining the importance of the national identity database.

Addressing concerns about multiple registrations, the NIMC chief assured that the commission's advanced biometric verification system effectively prevents duplicate identities. Unlike previous systems that flagged duplicates post-submission, the current system uses front-end biometric checks to identify and invalidate multiple enrollments, ensuring each person has only one unique identity.

That’s why it’s called a unique identifier, so that you’re only enrolled once.

— Abisoye Coker-OdusoteDirector-General and Chief Executive Officer of NIMC, on the function of the National Identification Number.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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