President Bola Tinubu has directed the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to ensure that every Nigerian is enrolled in the country’s national identity database before the end of 2026, according to the agency’s Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, Abisoye Coker-Odusote.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Coker-Odusote disclosed that the directive is part of the Federal Government’s renewed commitment to building a comprehensive digital identity system that will improve governance, planning, security, and public service delivery across Nigeria.
The President has given us till the end of this year to make sure that we capture every single Nigerian, she said.
To meet the ambitious deadline, Coker-Odusote explained that NIMC has expanded its enrolment network by partnering with private organisations through the World Bank-supported Identification for Development (ID4D) initiative.
According to her, the commission has accredited front-end partners within Nigeria’s digital identity ecosystem to register citizens on behalf of NIMC, significantly increasing the country’s enrolment capacity.
She noted that these partnerships have also created employment opportunities while accelerating the registration process nationwide.
The NIMC boss said Nigeria’s actual population remains uncertain, with current estimates ranging between 200 million and 250 million people.
She explained that completing the nationwide registration exercise would provide government with accurate demographic data needed for effective planning and policy implementation.
“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 said.
Coker-Odusote stressed that reliable identity data is fundamental to national development.
“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, she added.
Addressing concerns over duplicate identities, the NIMC Director-General assured Nigerians that the commission’s biometric verification system prevents individuals from obtaining multiple National Identification Numbers (NINs).
She explained that unlike the legacy system, which detected duplicate registrations only after enrolment, the upgraded platform automatically flags and invalidates multiple attempts using biometric information.
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,” she explained.
According to her, only one valid identity is retained while duplicate records are automatically removed through a deduplication process.
She further stated that fingerprint and facial recognition technologies make it virtually impossible for one person to maintain multiple identities.
Coker-Odusote also highlighted the impact of the recently enacted National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act 2026, signed into law by President Tinubu on June 26.
She said the legislation reinforces NIMC’s exclusive authority to capture biometric data, preventing both public and private institutions from independently collecting biometric information without validating identities through NIMC’s database.
She cited telecommunications companies as an example, noting that SIM card registration now relies on real-time biometric verification linked to the national identity database.
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, she said.
The newly signed NIMC Act 2026 replaces the 2007 legislation and formally establishes the National Identification Number (NIN) as Nigeria’s primary identity credential.
The law supports the Federal Government’s One Person, One Identity policy by making the NIN mandatory for accessing essential public and private services, including banking, passport applications, tax administration, pension services, land transactions, consumer credit, and other government services.
It also introduces tougher penalties for identity theft, multiple registrations, and unauthorised access to personal identity data while strengthening privacy protections and granting NIMC expanded powers to investigate identity-related offences.
With the nationwide enrolment campaign now intensified, the Federal Government aims to establish a reliable digital identity system that supports national security, economic planning, financial inclusion, and efficient public service delivery before the end of 2026.
