The Federal Government has launched a nationwide digital postcode system that will assign a unique address code to every building in Nigeria and integrate the platform with the National Identification Number (NIN) database.
The initiative is aimed at improving address verification, strengthening digital identity management, and making it easier for citizens to access government and private sector services across the country.
Politics Nigeria reports that this followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) in Abuja on Friday.
The agreement was signed by the Director-General of NIMC, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, and the Postmaster General of NIPOST, Tola Odeyemi, marking a new phase in the Federal Government’s push to modernise identity and address systems nationwide.
Speaking during the event, Coker-Odusote said both agencies had already commenced the integration of postcode retrieval into the NIN platform. According to her, the arrangement will allow Nigerians to access and verify their addresses through a single trusted system.
She said, “Our teams have collaborated to integrate postcode retrieval into the NIN platform, so that Nigerians will soon be able to confirm their address and retrieve their postcode through one trusted platform. This is designed to make access faster and more convenient for all Nigerians.”
The NIMC boss explained that while the National Identification Number confirms the identity of an individual, the postcode system will provide reliable information on where that individual can be located.
According to her, combining both systems will create a stronger foundation for governance, public service delivery and economic development.
She noted that linking verified identities with verified addresses would improve access to financial services, healthcare, education, logistics, e-commerce, emergency interventions and other government programmes.
Coker-Odusote said the integration would also help authorities improve planning and policy implementation while ensuring that interventions reach the intended beneficiaries.
She disclosed that NIPOST has been licensed as a front-end enrolment partner of NIMC, allowing Nigerians to register for their NIN at post offices across the country.
She said, “The Postmaster General and I sat down a couple of months ago, and what we did was to give them an enrolment licence to make them a front-end partner. Nigerians who want to go to post offices can enrol there, and they will capture their details on our behalf.”
The NIMC Director-General described the collaboration as a major step towards creating a comprehensive national database containing verified identities, addresses and locations.
According to her, the system will improve accuracy in address verification and reduce difficulties faced by financial institutions, government agencies and businesses when confirming the location of individuals.
She further stated that the partnership would support Nigeria’s digital public infrastructure by connecting identity management, payments and data exchange systems, thereby creating more opportunities within the digital economy.
On the implementation of the newly enacted NIMC Act 2026, Coker-Odusote said the legislation had strengthened the commission’s powers to tackle identity-related fraud and other violations.
She explained that while the commission now has broader enforcement powers, arrests and investigations would continue to be carried out alongside security agencies, while prosecutions would involve the Federal Ministry of Justice.
According to her, the new law has modernised Nigeria’s legal framework for digital identity management and positioned NIMC as the custodian of the country’s digital identity infrastructure.
In her remarks, NIPOST Postmaster General, Tola Odeyemi, described the digital postcode project as a long-awaited solution to Nigeria’s addressing challenges.
She said the system would assign every standing structure in the country a unique digital location identifier powered by geographic information technology.
Odeyemi stated, “What we’re building actually gives a unique identifier to every single standing structure in Nigeria.”
She added, “We’re giving a unique GIS-enabled, machine-readable location identifier to every standing building in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
According to her, the initiative will improve logistics operations, emergency response services, urban planning and access to public services by making locations easier to identify and verify.
She noted that the project goes beyond database integration and is intended to provide practical value for citizens by combining trusted identity information with trusted location data.
Odeyemi said, “Every modern economy depends on two critical capabilities: knowing who people are and knowing where they are. Identity gives people access; the postcode that we’re building gives service direction.”
She revealed that the digital postcode project was first conceived nearly two decades ago but had struggled to gain traction due to funding challenges.
According to her, the current administration has provided full funding for the project for the first time since it was introduced.
She said, “The Nigerian Postal Service has been trying this project, I think, since 2006. This is the first time that this project has been fully funded by the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
Odeyemi added that the support demonstrated the government’s commitment to expanding digital inclusion and ensuring that every Nigerian and every location is captured within the country’s digital infrastructure.
The agreement between NIMC and NIPOST is expected to strengthen identity verification processes, improve service delivery and expand access to identity-related services nationwide.