NIN

By Muhammad Mikail

On June 26, 2026, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act 2026 into law at the State House in Abuja, before an audience that included the trailblazer DG/CEO of the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, Engr, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, the Senate President, the Deputy Speaker of the House, the Attorney General, the Minister of Interior, and a World Bank representative. The gathering was deliberately high-profile: the new law closes a 19-year gap in Nigeria’s identity system and reshapes how citizens, businesses, and the government will trust each other online. The Act officially repeals and replaces the NIMC Act of 2007, which had governed Nigeria’s identity system and remained untouched even before smartphones, biometric enrolment, or mobile banking became part of everyday Nigerian life.

For most citizens, the significance of a piece of legislation like this is easy to miss. And very few people will ever read its full text. This new Act 2026 determines how easily a young graduate opens a bank account, how a small trader secures a loan, how a Nigerian abroad renews a passport, and how confidently anyone can prove who they are, online or in person.

Why the Old Law Had to Go

When the original NIMC Act was passed in 2007, Nigeria had no national-scale biometric enrolment infrastructure and no meaningful digital economy to speak of. That changed dramatically over almost the two decades that followed: the National Identification Number (NIN) became mandatory for SIM registration, passport applications, bank account opening, and voter registration. As digital services multiplied, the risks also did. Identity theft, fraudulent NIN registrations, and the phishing of biometric data became live problems that the 2007 framework was never built to address. It had nothing to say about digital credentials, cybersecurity obligations, or how private companies overseeing NIN-linked data should behave. The new Act closes that gap. Thus far, officials and legal analysts point to four structural shifts at the heart of the reform:

NIMC becomes Nigeria’s digital trust authority. The single biggest change is the designation of NIMC as the Root Certification Authority for Nigeria’s National Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). In practical terms, NIMC now controls the digital “keys” that make online transactions verifiable and trustworthy. 

“One Person, One Identity” is now the law. The NIN is formally established as Nigeria’s foundational identity credential, with the NIMC empowered to enable secure, interoperable data exchange among government agencies, financial institutions, and private-sector organisations that previously operated on fragmented, disconnected systems.

Data protection gets real teeth. The 2026 Act aligns NIMC’s practices with the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) and international privacy standards, meaning biometrics, addresses, and linked credentials must now be processed and stored under legally defined rules with NIMC committing to audit enrolment partners and third-party integrators more closely.

Penalties are sharper, and enforcement powers wider. Companies now face fines running into tens of millions of naira, while offences such as impersonation, multiple registration, and unauthorised access to identity data attract custodial sentences. NIMC’s investigative powers now extend to search, seizure, and, subject to judicial authorisation, data decryption.

The Commission’s board has also been reconstituted to include representatives from 14 government institutions, including INEC, the Nigeria Police Force, the DSS, the EFCC, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Office of the National Security Adviser. This signals that identity management is now of huge government concern.

The Implications for Identity Development

For nearly twenty years, Nigeria’s identity system evolved in a fragmented manner. NIN requirements were bolted agency by agency, without a unifying legal architecture. The 2026 Act gives that patchwork a single statutory backbone.

ID analysts rank Nigeria among Africa’s most mature digital identity ecosystems, alongside Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Africa. A legally grounded, PKI-backed identity system positions Nigeria for cross-border interoperability at a moment when West African economic integration is deepening, becoming a potential regional asset. The law also explicitly widens access for Nigerians in the diaspora, an acknowledgement that identity is a right and the attendant ID infrastructure needs to follow citizens wherever they live.

What It Means for Nigeria’s Digital Economy

The government have tied the Act directly to Nigeria’s ambition of building a one-trillion-dollar economy, arguing that a trusted, interoperable identity layer is a precondition for the digital services that ambition depends on. When banks, telecoms, insurers, and government agencies can all verify identity against a single authoritative source rather than duplicating know-your-customer processes, transaction costs fall, and fraud becomes harder to commit. Analysts following the reform expect it to strengthen the investment case for fintech expansion, e-commerce, and digital lending. These are sectors that all depend on being able to cheaply and quickly verify that the person on the other end of a transaction is real. Reduced duplication across agencies is also expected to improve the efficiency of public service delivery more broadly, from tax administration to social intervention programmes that need to verify beneficiaries accurately.

What It Means for the Everyday Nigerian and Legal Resident

Easier, wider access to services: With the NIN legally cemented as the reference point for passports, bank accounts, insurance, tax filing, and credit applications, NIMC has stated that citizens, including those in the diaspora, can expect easier and convenient access to identity-linked services, and stronger interoperability means fewer redundant registrations across agencies.

Stronger data protection: For the first time, there is a clear legal obligation governing how a Nigerian’s biometric and personal data must be managed, whether by NIMC itself or by any private company plugging into its verification infrastructure. 

Higher stakes, and higher expectations. The Act’s tougher penalties offer citizens greater protection against identity fraud. Also, to meet with President Tinubu’s directive of enrolling every Nigerian by the end of 2026 means NIMC would need to register more than three million people every month, DG/CEO NIMC said in an interview on Channels TV recently that NIMC is collaborating with partners under the World Bank-supported Nigeria Digital Identification for Development (NDID4D) Project to accelerate nationwide enrolment. This offers real hope of inclusion, particularly for rural and lower-income Nigerians who remain hardest to reach. 

The road ahead 

The NIMC Act 2026 is, by most independent accounts, a genuinely significant piece of reform. It closes a legal vacuum that persisted across four presidential administrations and a mobile internet revolution, the original drafters of the NIMC Act 2007 never anticipated. But the law itself only creates the scaffolding. The harder work of auditing enrolment partners, enforcing data-breach penalties, and reaching citizens outside the system remains.

Conclusively, I urge the NIMC, critical stakeholders and relevant agencies, organisations, CSOs and players in the ID ecosystem to support the NIMC and ensure the ACT of 2026 ultimately strengthens public trust, serves as a means to encourage nationwide enrolment for the NIN, and ensures the institutions enforcing it are themselves held to account. Ultimately, we must collectively ensure that all intended benefits, services, and access that the Act 2026 brings becomea lived reality for the average Nigerian and legal resident, and not another entry on the country’s lengthy list of good intentions.

Muhammad Mikail is a communications professional and writes from Abuja. He can be reached via muhammadnmikail.mm@gmail.com

By Muhammad Abubakar

The National Identification Number (NIN) issued by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) will automatically function as a Tax Identification Number (Tax ID) for Nigerians starting from January 2026, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has announced.

According to the FIRS, the policy is part of broader efforts to harmonise government databases, improve tax administration, and expand the country’s tax net. By linking tax records directly to the NIN, authorities aim to reduce duplication, enhance compliance, and make it easier for individuals and businesses to fulfil their tax obligations.

Officials said the integration would streamline identification across government services while strengthening transparency and efficiency in revenue collection.

Nigerians are therefore encouraged to ensure their NIN details are accurate and up to date ahead of the January 2026 implementation.

The move aligns with ongoing digital reforms by the Federal Government to modernise public administration and improve service delivery nationwide.

By Muhamad Mikail

In today’s interconnected and accountability-driven environment, a stakeholder is anyone who has an interest in or influence over an organisation, ranging from employees, customers, investors, and regulators to local communities and advocacy groups. Stakeholder engagement is a strategic process that involves informing, consulting, collaborating with, and responding to these groups to ensure transparency, secure buy-in, manage risks, and incorporate feedback into project planning and execution. According to the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2), stakeholders are those who are “affected by or can affect the outcome of a decision or project,” making their inclusion vital to successful outcomes.

A 2020 McKinsey & Company report found that organisations that engage stakeholders meaningfully tend to perform better across both financial and social metrics, and are 2.3 times more likely to outperform their peers. The World Bank now requires stakeholder engagement in all funded projects, and frameworks like the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) emphasise stakeholder inclusiveness as a core principle of sustainable reporting. In this context, stakeholder engagement is no longer a courtesy—it is a strategic imperative for organisations seeking long-term relevance, impact, and resilience.

Since it became effective in December 2021, the Nigeria Digital Identification for Development Project has sought to have a proactive and open relationship with its stakeholders, across public and private institutions, ministries, departments and agencies, the media, Front End Enrolment Partners, Non-governmental organisations, Civil Society Organisations, disability clusters and women’s forums. This consistent stakeholder engagement is viewed as being fundamental to the core development objective of the Project, which is “to increase the number of persons with a national identity number issued by a robust and inclusive foundational ID system that guarantees their access to services”. This is to ensure the provision of a verifiable means of identification (NIN) for all Nigerians and legal residents of Nigeria. 

Thus far, the Project has successfully organised stakeholder consultation workshops annually for critical stakeholders in the ID sector across Nigeria. Importantly, these consultations elicited feedback and synergy on areas of collaboration, building on established networks and structures across communities and ward levels. Reports of these consultation workshops have been published in three national dailies, which serve as a means of reporting back to stakeholders on the progress of implementing their recommendations and suggestions. 

It is worthy of immense applause that the Project, through the Ecosystem Coordination Strategic Unit, (ECSU) in manner yet to be replicated in the country and anywhere else in the world supported the then Nigeria Data Protection Bureau headed by Dr Vincent Olatunji, devised a master stroke strategy of engaging critical stakeholders in the digital economy ecosystem, data protection thought-leaders, cybersecurity experts, policy makers, technocrats, NGOs, CSOs, development partners and even politicians in the drive to the drafting, passage of the data protection bill and eventual assent by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the 12^th of June 2023 all under one year. This eventually gave rise to what is now known as the Nigeria Data Protection (NDP) Act of 2023, which led to the establishment of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission. 

Furthermore, the Project Coordinator of the Project Implementation Unit, Mrs Tito Ejenavi said in a speech delivered at the opening of training for over 7,157 revalidated Front End Enrolment Partners and agents, that the PIU is part and parcel of  NIMC and has supported the National Identity Management Commission in entering several partnerships that have benefited underserved communities, disability clusters and several women forums including taking enrolment to their communities, test of accountability scorecards and assignment of special enrolment agents to enrol persons with disability, drafting and validation of disability policy, inclusion strategies, incentivisation of enrolment partners using the business model and billing solution, aided by the geo-spatial mapping of all communities and cities in Nigeria.  The NIMC is also collaborating with the National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office to enrol the poorest of the poor into the National Social Register and validate the Social Register using the NIN. 

As a result of this engagement and numerous other initiatives, NIN enrolment figures and data have improved by millions each month. From January 2022 when enrolment for the NIN stood at seventy-two million, seven hundred thousand, three hundred and sixty (72, 700, 360) and May 2025, enrolment currently stands at one hundred and nineteen million, six hundred and twenty-three thousand, two hundred and twenty-nine, a whopping addition of forty-six million, nine hundred and ninety-two thousand, eight hundred and sixty-nine. This accounts for a 48.80% increase in the number of people enrolled and issued a National Identification Number, NIN. 

Establishing and maintaining good relationships requires a long-term horizon, involving taking varied steps and making different, far-reaching decisions. The NIMC through the Project Implementation Unit, PIU of the NDID4D Project have invested heavily and strategically in the training and retraining of grievance redress representatives across the 36 states of Nigeria who across all NIMC centres are to serve as the first points of contact for any aggrieved enrolee, enrolment agent or residents of the host communities especially when such situation is tied to enrolment for the NIN or any other services that the NIMC currently offers.  

Concerted Efforts are being made through CSOs and women’s forums, such as the Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN), to personalise relationships with communities across the federation. This is achieved by building on their already established structures and networks, and working through their employees to create links with local communities and drive inclusion. Grievance redress has taken centre stage with the establishment and expansion of a NIMC 24/7 toll-free line to address grievances from anywhere in the country. The DG/CEO of NIMC, Engr. Abisoye Coker Odusote has been quoted in several official events stating that NIMC takes grievances seriously and will address them in a reliable and timely manner. 

It is worth noting that strategic stakeholder engagement is a key strategy for governments, organisations, and community groups in developing coherent policies and projects. It is our sincere hope that many more sustainable and people-centred reforms will be pursued in the drive to reposition our digital identity ecosystem, thereby helping to enhance the growth of our digital economy.  I therefore call on the National Assembly to expedite the passage of the amendments to the NIMC Act of 2025, as forward-thinking legal reforms like the NIMC Act amendment hold the key to unlocking the limitless benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Muhammad Mikail is a Communications Professional and writes from Abuja. He can be reached via muhammadnmikail.mm@gmail.com.

By Uzair Adam

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has assured Nigerians that the enrolment, verification, authentication, and modification of National Identification Number (NIN) data are progressing smoothly, in preparation for the NIN-SIM linkage deadline set for September 14, 2024.

Kayode Adegoke, the Head of Corporate Communications at NIMC, stated that more than 10,000 enrolment centers across Nigeria and the diaspora remain operational to cater to the needs of the public.

He urged Nigerians and legal residents to visit these centers for NIN enrolment and reassured them that the process is free from extortion and unethical practices.

Adegoke also informed the public that those wishing to modify their NIN data can do so via the NIMC Self-Service portal.

The NIMC reaffirmed its dedication to providing top-quality identity management services while maintaining a zero-tolerance policy towards extortion and unethical conduct.

For further enquiries, the commission directed users to its official website.

By Muhammad Mikail

The World Bank Group’s Identification for Development (ID4D) initiative estimated that 1 billion people were without an officially recognised means of identification (ID), and the majority are women. This problem is particularly acute in Low—and Medium-Income Countries (LMICs), where the 2017 Global Findex survey estimates that 44 per cent of women do not have an ID compared to 28 per cent of men (World Bank Gender Gap Report 2021).

In Nigeria, different studies and surveys have identified many challenges and barriers as the cause of the low National Identification Number (NIN) enrolment by women, children, Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), and other marginalised groups. These groups experience challenges in obtaining ID due to the distance to travel for registration, transport costs, long wait times, and multiple visits. 

Some of the identified barriers to enrolling for the NIN for women, children, and PWDs have emanated from social norms about gender roles that allocate certain household work, responsibilities, and childcare to women, exacerbating their time constraints. Most often, women needing permission from husbands and fathers can be a huge barrier for many, especially in environments where knowledge and awareness about IDs are limited. 

Also, poor facilities combined with long wait times are particularly hard for elderly people, pregnant and nursing mothers, and persons with disabilities. These barriers to registration are even greater for pastoralists and IDPs who are less aware of pertinent registration information such as location, time, and necessary supporting documentation.

Many IDPs have low trust in the government, while people living in camps are further away from service access points. Pastoralists and migrant fisherfolk and farmers also typically have less engagement with the government and are less likely to have IDs, though this varies significantly by region. Women from these communities are likely doubly disadvantaged by their gender and their pastoral identity. Women with disabilities and internally displaced women are also likely to face additional barriers and greater exclusion from society than women without disabilities or women who have not been displaced (World Bank Gender Gap Report 2021)

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in July 2023 revealed that Nigeria has over 3 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), about 2 million returnees, and 100 thousand refugees/asylum seekers from 41 countries, with the majority from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger, Central Africa Republic, Cameroon, Syria, Turkey, Mali, and 34 other countries. Also documented by UNHCR are over 300,000 Nigerian refugees registered in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. 

These individuals may have difficulty accessing basic rights such as banking, telephone, education, healthcare, employment, and freedom of movement and may face a lifetime of obstacles and exclusion without access to the National Identification Number (NIN). Aside from creating a huge gap in the database in terms of inclusivity and spread, this leaves behind a very huge number of unidentified underserved persons with the risk of being excluded from government services, restriction in movements, and lack of access to healthcare. It also creates a clog in the federal government’s attempt to commit to the sustainable development goals of providing identities for everyone and “leaving no one behind.”  When you have millions of unidentified persons outside of your country’s identity database, it means your economic planning will fall short and by extension, Nigeria’s socio-economic development will suffer.

In recognition of these challenges and in commitment to achieving universal access to ID and closing the gaps, the Government of Nigeria commissioned a strategic roadmap in 2018 as part of the country’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) as its overall strategy to drive the country’s economic development. Several reforms were contained in the roadmap. Principally, the country was to adopt the ecosystem approach to NIN enrolment that involved Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), ministries, departments and agencies of government, licensed enrolment partners, international Non-Governmental Organisations, and all relevant stakeholders in the ID space.  

Also, the National Identity Management Commission is working with the Nigeria Digital Identification for Development Project (NDID4D) with support from the World Bank, the French Development Agency (AFD), and the European Investment Bank (EIB) in implementing a series of sustainable and innovative reforms. The goal is to remove all current challenges and difficulties that people face in enrolling for IDs, fostering a robust, seamless, and more inclusive enrolment system where ID is provided for everyone, and no one is left behind.  

As a result, the NDID4D Project established collaboration with the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) and their international counterpart, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). This is aimed at addressing these challenges and removing barriers these vulnerable individuals may face to obtaining the NIN needed to facilitate their rehabilitation, reintegration, and resettlement into society. 

As part of the collaboration, the NCFRMI has agreed to activate its enrolment licence previously issued by NIMC to participate as an enrolment partner targeting refugees, migrants and IDPs in 5 states where there are large clusters of these vulnerable groups. The states are Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Cross-River, and Akwa-Ibom. Although refugees also live in cities including Lagos, Ijebu, Abuja, Kano, and urban areas in other States, the selected 5 states host the majority of these vulnerable populations and will, therefore, serve as a starting point for this enrolment. 

With support from UNHCR, the refugee commission is planning to procure 6 enrolment devices and nominate 20 of its staff as enrolment agents to support this endeavour. On its part, the NIMC, with support from the NDID4D Project, will onboard these enrolment devices and train all licensed enrolment partners to be deployed to the various states and locations to carry out the enrolment. The NIMC, in collaboration with the NDID4D Project, is fashioning ways to clear the backlog of enrolment fees owed to enrolment partners and has also developed a robust business model to incentivise all partners, particularly those who will be conducting enrolment in remote and hard-to-reach communities and locations.  

In ensuring that the fundamental right of every Nigerian to a verifiable identity is secured, the National Identity Management Commission needs to work overtime in introducing innovative reforms in line with global best practices. Engagements and consultations with critical stakeholders on the amendment of the NIMC Act to ensure it is in consonance with the current digital realities and ease integration with other foundational ID agencies like the NPC should be sustained. Efforts need to be geared to working tirelessly on upgrading the enrolment software and ensuring training and retraining of all licensed enrolment partners on interacting effectively with the people, global best practices in customer service and grievance handling. 

In the same vein, national awareness and information campaigns that use multiple channels inclusive of both conventional and new media to reach diverse groups in raising awareness about NIN enrolment, including information on where and how to enrol, what is required to enrol, and—especially—why enrolling is important for everyone, not just women, children and PWDs should be commissioned. This should be done while equally engaging traditional, community and local leaders especially male leaders, to proactively promote women’s and girl’s registration.

The recent collaboration between the NIMC and the National Social Safety Net Project to extend to streamline enrolment of the poorest of the poor in the national social register while ensuring those on the register are both issued a valid NIN and are captured into the National ID database is a strategic move that deserves commendation.

Enrolment centres and registration points should be located close to communities to reduce travel costs and time, enhance access to ID and adopt culturally appropriate policies to encourage and prioritise enrolment for women and girls and marginalised groups. This may involve Mobile registration centres to bring the enrolment process closer to the people in the rural/hard-reach areas.

The recent workshop held in Abuja to validate the NIMC’s disability inclusion policy represents a critical step forward in ensuring that the National Identity Management System is inclusive and accessible to all citizens, particularly persons with disabilities. Collaboration with the National Commission for Persons with Disability should be sustained.

In the same vein, digital identity can also enhance security and privacy. With robust authentication mechanisms in place and monitored by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, individuals can rest assured that their personal information is protected from unauthorised access. This is particularly germane in an era and country like ours where data breaches, phishing and identity theft are on a steady rise. This can help bridge the digital divide by enabling greater secured access to services for all citizens and empowering marginalised communities to fully participate in the digital economy

Conclusively, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) faces an arduous task of showing Nigerians the value of having a NIN and its relevance in accessing critical services used by both women and men while ensuring non-possession of the ID does not exclude people from services. These will not only help in allaying the fears and resolving the complaints of aggrieved Nigerians and potential enrollees, but they will also help the NIMC win back the trust of the Nation. 

Muhammad Mikail writes from Abuja and can be reached via muhammadnmikail.mm@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Sabiu