The Nigerian Government has launched an intensified nationwide campaign to enrol an estimated 100 million citizens yet to be captured in the National Identity Database, with a renewed focus on rural communities and underserved populations.
The renewed drive forms part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and will be implemented through closer collaboration between the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation and the National Orientation Agency (NOA).
Speaking in Abuja while receiving the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of NIMC, Dr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote, during a courtesy visit, Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said although more than 136 million Nigerians and legal residents have been enrolled, millions remain outside the national identity system.
“The 136 million already captured is very significant, but we still have about 100 million Nigerians left, and they also ought to be captured. Every Nigerian deserves to be included in our national planning,” the Minister said.
He stressed that a comprehensive digital identity system is critical to effective governance, economic planning, financial inclusion and the delivery of government interventions.
“Identity management is at the heart of the reform agenda of Mr. President, because if you are reforming, you have to know who you are reforming for. If you don’t know the number of people that you have and the demography and what they represent, how do you plan for them?” Idris stated.
The Minister urged NIMC to leverage the grassroots structure of the National Orientation Agency to accelerate enrolment, noting that the Agency’s presence in all 774 Local Government Areas would be instrumental in driving public awareness.
“The National Orientation Agency is your best bet for reaching the grassroots. Please deepen your collaboration with NOA so that together we can ensure every Nigerian understands the importance of identity management,” he said.
Idris also applauded NIMC for maintaining what he described as a secure identity ecosystem without any reported data breach, pledging the Ministry’s communication platforms to support nationwide sensitisation campaigns.
Speaking earlier, NOA Director-General Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu assured NIMC of the Agency’s readiness to mobilise communities across the country to ensure wider participation in the enrolment exercise.
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“We are present in those areas where you want to go and carry out public enlightenment and sensitisation. the Agency would help ensure that no Nigerian is excluded from accessing government programmes because of the absence of a National Identification Number (NIN),” he said.
Responding, the Director-General, NIMC, Dr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote, disclosed that the Commission has commenced a ward-by-ward enrolment exercise across Nigeria’s 8,809 political wards to ensure universal identity coverage.
“The President gave us marching orders to commence the ward enrolment exercise because he wanted the people in the rural areas and at the community level not to be disenfranchised from any government intervention programme,” she said.
The Director General explained that the newly enacted NIMC Act 2026 strengthens Nigeria’s digital identity framework by introducing enhanced provisions on data protection, cybersecurity, digital public infrastructure and digital trust, while positioning NIMC as the country’s foundational digital identity authority.
Also speaking, NIMC’s Head of Corporate Communications, Dr. Kayode Adegoke, described the legislation as a transformative reform that expands the use of the National Identification Number across government and private sector services.
According him NIMC has integrated its systems with more than 250 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), while introducing digital innovations that have improved service delivery and significantly reduced enrolment time for Nigerians.
The meeting was attended by senior officials of the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, the National Orientation Agency and the National Identity Management Commission.
