Tinubu Tasks NIMC with Comprehensive National ID Enrolment by 2026

President Bola Tinubu has issued a directive to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), mandating the registration of every Nigerian citizen in the national identity database before the conclusion of 2026. This information was disclosed by Abisoye Coker-Odusote, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of NIMC, during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme.

Coker-Odusote explained that this presidential order is a crucial component of the Federal Government's strategy to establish a robust national identity framework. This system is designed to bolster effective governance, facilitate national planning, and enhance the delivery of various public services. She quoted the President, stating, “The President has given us till the end of this year to make sure that we capture every single Nigerian.”

To expedite the nationwide enrolment process, NIMC is collaborating with various partners under the Identification for Development (ID4D) project, which receives support from the World Bank. “What we have done is we have partnered through the World Bank ID4D project with front-end partners. They are part of the digital identity ecosystem. These are private citizens that we’ve enabled and given jobs to enrol citizens on our behalf,” she elaborated.

The NIMC boss further highlighted that the National Identification Number (NIN) functions as a singular identifier, guaranteeing that each individual is registered only once. She reiterated, “That’s why it’s called a unique identifier, so that you’re only enrolled once.”

Beyond individual identification, Coker-Odusote noted that the mass enrolment initiative will also serve to ascertain Nigeria’s precise population figures. She pointed out that current estimates for the country’s population vary significantly, ranging between 200 million and 250 million people. “It is estimated that we’re 200 million. When we’re done enrolling, we will then know the actual numbers that we have. Some estimates say 230 million, while a few people say 250 million,” she stated. Emphasizing the significance of identity for national development, she added, “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? We have been mandated by Mr President to go down to the community levels to enrol every single Nigerian.”

Addressing concerns regarding potential multiple registrations, the NIMC Director-General assured the public that the commission’s advanced biometric verification system is designed to prevent individuals from acquiring more than one identity. She clarified that while the previous system could only detect duplicate enrolments after records were submitted, the current technology immediately identifies and invalidates any duplicate attempts through real-time biometric checks.

“The legacy system had no way of verifying at the front end whether you had already been captured. Once the record comes into the system, it flags it as a duplicate or that the person already exists in the database. You would only have one identity generated for you. The other record goes into a deduplication bucket where it is invalidated,” she explained. She further affirmed that the integration of biometric verification, including fingerprints and facial recognition, makes it virtually impossible for an individual to maintain multiple identities.

“Absolutely. One of the things that this Act has done is to cement our role in capturing biometrics. Private and public sector organisations will no longer capture biometrics independently. They will validate identities through API integration with NIMC,” she asserted. As an example, she mentioned, “The telcos are already doing that with us. If you need a SIM card, they capture your facial biometrics, which are matched against our database in real time to confirm that you are who you claim to be. We’re using biometric validation to tighten security around identity confirmation.”

These comments follow President Tinubu’s assent to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act 2026 on June 26, which effectively repealed the previous 2007 legislation. The new law strengthens the “One Person, One Identity” policy, establishing the National Identification Number as the foundational identity credential required for accessing both government and essential private services, such as banking, passport applications, tax administration, pension schemes, land transactions, and consumer credit.