By Opeyemi Adelakun
The Federal Government is targeting 95 per cent National Identification Number enrolment coverage by December 2026, President Bola Tinubu has said.
Tinubu disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja during the 8th National Identity Day celebration, where he was represented by his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila.
The President said the government was developing the digital infrastructure needed to use Nigeria’s identity system as a foundation for economic growth and improved public services.
“Nigeria’s digital ecosystem must power Nigeria’s digital economy and Nigeria’s digital economy must help power Africa’s economy. Our identity infrastructure will be a critical component of this ambition,” he said.
Tinubu said the government was working towards an ecosystem where trusted digital identity would support digital commerce, financial services, social protection, healthcare, education and mobility.
He also disclosed that work was being accelerated on a Sovereign Public Key Infrastructure as part of the government’s broader Digital Public Infrastructure architecture.
According to him, the system would provide the foundation for secure digital signatures, authenticated electronic documents, encrypted transactions and secure government communications.
The President said the infrastructure would also enable businesses to conduct digital transactions with greater confidence and allow government documents to be authenticated without cumbersome physical processes.
Tinubu reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to developing a robust digital public infrastructure to expand access to essential public services.
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, described identity management as central to economic growth, national security and social inclusion.
Tunji-Ojo said the President’s assent to the NIMC Act 2026 had provided a stronger legal framework for digital identity management and Nigeria’s digital economy.
He urged NIMC to expand NIN enrolment access for Nigerians in the diaspora and accelerate the development of trusted PKI and digital public infrastructure systems.
The minister also urged Nigerians to enrol for NIN and protect their identity credentials.
“Your identity is your digital footprint,” he said.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, said the NIN was increasingly important to education planning and access.
Alausa said the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative was deploying NIN as an anchor for cleaning up the education database covering more than 75 million students from basic to tertiary levels.
He said NIN had become mandatory for JAMB registration and other examinations as part of measures to reduce malpractice, eliminate multiple identities and improve the accuracy of student records.
According to him, integration between NIMC and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund had enabled more than 800,000 students to access education financing.
Alausa also commended NIMC for extending enrolment to 8,809 wards across the country, saying the move would improve access for school-age children.
Earlier, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of NIMC, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, said the national identity database had increased from about 80 million NINs at the beginning of the current administration to nearly 140 million.
She said the national identity infrastructure had the capacity to accommodate up to 250 million records.
Coker-Odusote said NIMC launched the Ward-Level Enrolment Drive in February 2026, taking free NIN registration to all 8,809 wards.
More than 5,000 enrolment agents, she added, had been trained to improve access for persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.
The NIMC chief also highlighted the NINAuth application, which was launched in October 2025 as a consent-based authentication service, as well as the relaunched General Multipurpose Card for identity verification, financial transactions and direct government-to-people services.
She said the NIMC Act 2026 had strengthened data protection, expanded mandatory NIN use and increased penalties for identity-related offences.
According to Coker-Odusote, more than 173 private companies, 30 state governments and 14 public institutions had been licensed as enrolment partners.
She added that NIN had served as the Tax ID for individuals since January 1, 2026.
Coker-Odusote said integration with the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Immigration Service, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nigeria Revenue Service and National Population Commission was also strengthening identity verification, national security and service delivery.
Leave a Reply