By Oluwakemi Kindness
President Bola Tinubu has directed the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to enroll every Nigerian in the national identity database before the end of 2026.
NIMC Director General, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, disclosed the directive while speaking on Sunday on National Television, saying the move is part of the Federal Government’s plan to build a comprehensive national identity system that will improve governance, planning and public service delivery.
“The President has given us till the end of this year to make sure that we capture every single Nigerian,” she said.
Coker-Odusote said NIMC is accelerating enrolment through the World Bank-supported Identification for Development (ID4D) project by partnering with private sector enrolment agents across the country.
She explained that the National Identification Number (NIN) remains a unique identifier, ensuring that every Nigerian is enrolled only once.
According to her, Nigeria’s actual population is still uncertain, with estimates ranging from 200 million to 250 million. She said completing nationwide enrolment will provide reliable population data needed for effective national planning.
“Your identity is the foundation for effective governance and service delivery. How can you plan if you don’t know the total number of people you have?” she asked.
The NIMC boss also dismissed concerns that people could obtain multiple identities by registering in different locations or under different names.
She said the commission’s upgraded biometric verification system uses fingerprints and facial recognition to detect duplicate registrations immediately and invalidate them.
Coker-Odusote explained that unlike the previous system, which identified duplicates only after enrolment, the new platform prevents multiple identities from being created for the same individual.
She added that the recently signed NIMC Act 2026 has strengthened the commission’s role as the country’s sole custodian of biometric identity data.
Under the new system, public and private organisations will verify identities through NIMC’s application programming interface (API) instead of creating separate biometric databases.
She said telecommunications companies already use the system to verify customers’ identities in real time during SIM registration.
Tinubu signed the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act 2026 into law on June 26, replacing the 2007 legislation.
The new law reinforces the “One Person, One Identity” policy by making the National Identification Number the primary identity credential for accessing government and essential private services, including banking, passport applications, tax administration, pensions, land transactions and consumer credit.
It also introduces tougher penalties for identity theft, multiple registrations and unauthorised access to personal identity data while strengthening privacy protections and expanding NIMC’s powers to investigate identity-related offences.
