President Bola Tinubu has issued a decisive directive to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to achieve complete enrolment of all Nigerian citizens into the national identity database by the close of 2026. This ambitious undertaking is positioned as a cornerstone for enhancing governance, streamlining service delivery, and providing accurate demographic data for national planning and resource allocation.
The mandate was revealed by NIMC Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, during a recent appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme. She confirmed the President’s firm deadline, stating, “The President has given us till the end of this year to make sure that we capture every single Nigerian.” To expedite this critical exercise, NIMC is leveraging the World Bank-supported Identification for Development (ID4D) project, enlisting private front-end partners to conduct enrolments nationwide on the commission’s behalf.
The National Identification Number (NIN) serves as a unique identifier, designed to prevent duplicate registrations. Coker-Odusote emphasised the system’s integrity, noting, “That’s why it’s called a unique identifier, so that you’re only enrolled once.” The successful completion of this drive will resolve current population estimates, which range widely between 200 million and 250 million, providing a precise figure essential for informed national strategy.
Addressing concerns regarding multiple registrations, Coker-Odusote highlighted the advancements in NIMC’s biometric system. Unlike legacy processes that flagged duplicates post-submission, the current system detects and blocks them at the point of capture. “The legacy system had no way of verifying at the front end whether you had already been captured,” she explained. “Once the record comes into the system, it flags it as a duplicate or that the person already exists in the database.” The advanced biometric verification, incorporating fingerprints and facial recognition, makes it virtually impossible for an individual to possess multiple identities.
The recently enacted NIMC Act 2026, assented to by President Tinubu on June 26, 2026, further solidifies NIMC’s central role. The Act prohibits other public and private organisations from independently capturing biometrics, mandating instead that they integrate with NIMC via API for identity validation. Telecommunications companies, for instance, already adhere to this model, using facial biometrics for SIM card registration and real-time matching against the NIMC database. “We are using biometric validation to tighten security around identity confirmation,” Coker-Odusote stated.
This legislation enshrines the “One Person, One Identity” policy, positioning the NIN as the foundational credential for accessing a wide array of essential government and private services. These include banking, passport applications, tax administration, pensions, land transactions, and consumer credit. Coker-Odusote underscored the profound implications of this initiative, asserting, “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?” The commission is committed to reaching all citizens, including those in remote areas, through community-level enrolment drives.
... Tinubu Mandates Universal National Identity Enrolment by Year-End 2026: Implications for Governance and Business ... Naijaonpoint.