Identity Registry Hits Record One Hundred Thirty Million -NIMC
The National Identity Management Commission has registered over 136 million citizens and legal residents in its database as a sweeping infrastructure overhaul begins. Abisoye Coker-Odusote, the director-general, confirmed the milestone following high-level consultations with the budget ministry. This legislative and technical shift aims to centralise the civic records of Africa’s most populous nation under a single repository.
A newly enacted statute repeals the original 2007 framework to establish a stricter identity ecosystem. The legislation legally positions the National Identification Number as the central anchor for all public and private interactions. Under this mandate, the commission assumes the role of root certificate authority for domestic digital infrastructure. The state plans to use this consolidated registry to eliminate identity duplication and strengthen national security protocols.
Economic planners intend to leverage the expanded database to modernise the distribution of public resources. Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, the budget minister, described the updated legal framework as a crucial milestone for fiscal planning. A reliable biometric audit allows the government to streamline social welfare interventions and curb budgetary waste. Past administration efforts suffered frequent distortions due to unreliable demographic data and ghost beneficiaries.
The agency has instituted major internal reforms to handle the accelerating pace of biometric data collection. It recently replaced its manual employee evaluation methods with an automated, metric-driven performance system. Over 4,600 registry staff across 200 regional centres have undergone specialised technical training to improve service delivery. These internal changes aim to eliminate corrupt practices and unauthorized fees that previously slowed down registration.
Foreign development partners, including the World Bank, continue to provide financial backing for this digital transformation. International lenders have tied ongoing funding to strict targets, requiring universal identity coverage by the end of the year. The state must now balance its aggressive data gathering with robust cybersecurity safeguards to preserve public trust. Whether the upgraded agency can secure this massive digital estate from emerging cyber threats remains the critical test ahead.