ABUJA, July 12, 2026 — 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 a television interview, Coker-Odusote said the presidential directive is aimed at creating a comprehensive national identity system that will improve governance, national planning and the delivery of public services.

“The President has given us till the end of this year to make sure that we capture every single Nigerian.”

She explained that the commission has expanded its enrolment strategy by partnering with private organisations through the World Bank-supported Identification for Development (ID4D) project to increase registration across the country.

“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.”

The NIMC boss stressed that the National Identification Number (NIN) remains a unique identifier designed to ensure that every individual is registered only once.

“That’s why it’s called a unique identifier, so that you’re only enrolled once.”

She noted that the actual population of Nigeria will become clearer once the nationwide registration exercise is completed, explaining that current estimates vary significantly.

“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.”

According to her, a reliable identity database is essential for effective governance, policy formulation and the equitable distribution of public services.

She also dismissed concerns that individuals could obtain multiple identities by registering in different locations, explaining that NIMC’s biometric verification system automatically detects and invalidates duplicate enrolments.

“You would only have one identity generated for you. The other record goes into a deduplication bucket where it is invalidated.”

Coker-Odusote added that facial recognition and fingerprint verification have strengthened the commission’s ability to prevent identity fraud and ensure the integrity of the national identity database.

She explained that both government institutions and private organisations are increasingly relying on NIMC’s identity verification platform to authenticate individuals before providing services.

The nationwide enrolment drive follows the recent signing of the National Identity Management Commission Act 2026, which reinforces the “One Person, One Identity” policy and expands the use of the National Identification Number as Nigeria’s primary identity credential for accessing both government and private sector services.