The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) have intensified collaboration on data harmonisation to improve voter registration, identity management, and future electoral processes in Nigeria.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this on Wednesday while receiving NIMC Director-General, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, and her management team at INEC headquarters in Abuja.
He said the partnership between both agencies, which manage the country’s largest biometric databases, could pave the way for a single national database that would serve as the primary source of citizenship identification.
Yakubu explained that while INEC maintains records for elections, NIMC holds the general database of citizens.
He stressed that aligning both systems would eventually allow the national register of voters to draw directly from the NIMC register, in line with global best practices.
“Since the ultimate goal is to enroll every citizen with NIMC, we look forward to the day when your database will serve as the single source of truth for citizenship identification in Nigeria.
This may also enable citizens to vote in future elections from their places of choice anywhere in the country rather than being restricted to locations where they first registered,” Yakubu said.
Yakubu confirmed that NIMC officials are being deployed to INEC registration centres during the ongoing nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).
He said this would allow Nigerians to register for the National Identification Number (NIN) and voter cards simultaneously.
He cited a pilot exercise conducted during the Anambra CVR in July as proof of the initiative’s viability, adding that the process would now be scaled up nationwide.
Coker-Odusote said the collaboration is part of NIMC’s mandate to harmonise data across ministries, departments, and agencies.
She emphasised that a trust-based system anchored on a single database would enhance transparency and accountability in elections while improving service delivery in other sectors.
“The goal set out in front of us is very key because we must ensure that we provide systems that are trusted by the public. One of the key steps in advancing this course is our joint work with INEC on the voter registration exercise to provide access to Nigerians at the community level,” Coker-Odusote said.
The initiative aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritises credible elections supported by reliable identity management. Both agencies said the integration of databases would reduce duplication, strengthen electoral transparency, and streamline citizen registration processes across the country.