NIMC enrols 136m Nigerians as FG rolls out new identity law

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) says it has enrolled more than 136 million Nigerians and legal residents into the National Identity Database as the Federal Government begins implementing a new law to strengthen the country’s digital identity system.

The commission disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday after a stakeholders’ meeting with the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning on the implementation of the new NIMC Act.

The new legislation repeals the 2007 NIMC Act and places the National Identification Number (NIN) at the centre of Nigeria’s identity ecosystem under a “one person, one identity” framework aimed at creating a unified and trusted identity system.

Under the law, NIMC will serve as the root certificate authority for Nigeria’s digital identity infrastructure, with expanded responsibilities covering digital identity management, cybersecurity and data protection.

Director-General of NIMC, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, said the commission is working to enrol all Nigerians and legal residents and issue them NINs as quickly as possible.

She added that the agency would collaborate with the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning to utilise the NIN in economic planning and national development initiatives.

Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, described the new law as a major step toward building a secure and inclusive identity management system.

He called for stronger collaboration among federal, state and local governments to eliminate multiple identity databases, stressing that the NIN should become Nigeria’s single, universally accepted means of identification.

According to the government, the unified digital identity system is expected to improve public service delivery, support economic planning, enhance financial inclusion and strengthen access to government social intervention programmes.