The Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Mrs Abisoye Coker-Odusote on Wednesday met separately with the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Dr. Bernard Doro, and the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Senator John Owan Enoh, to deepen collaboration on the implementation of the new NIMC Act 2026.
The meetings, held in Abuja, focused on expanding Nigeria’s digital identity ecosystem, strengthening data protection, improving service delivery, and accelerating the use of the National Identification Number (NIN) across government programmes and the private sector.
Speaking during the meeting, the Minister of Information, Idris commended the NIMC leadership for what he described as remarkable progress in transforming identity management over the past three years.
He said the commission’s achievements align with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, noting that over 136 million Nigerians have already been enrolled into the national identity database.
According to him, while the figure is significant, millions of Nigerians are yet to be captured, making it imperative for NIMC to intensify grassroots mobilisation through the National Orientation Agency (NOA).
“The National Orientation Agency has offices in every local government area in Nigeria. Working closely with the agency will ensure that identity registration reaches the grassroots where it is needed most,” Idris said.
The minister described digital identity as central to national planning, economic reforms and social inclusion, stressing that government cannot effectively plan for citizens without reliable demographic data.
He also praised NIMC for maintaining a secure database without any reported data breach, saying public confidence depends on strong privacy protection and transparency.
Idris assured the commission of the support of agencies under the Federal Ministry of Information, including the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and the National OrientationAgency (NOA), to drive nationwide public enlightenment on identity enrolment.
Responding, Coker-Odusote said the new NIMC Act 2026 has significantly strengthened legal provisions for data protection and enforcement against identity related crimes.
She explained that while the repealed 2007 Act had no provisions on data protection, the new legislation incorporates the provisions of the Nigeria Data Protection Act and empowers NIMC to prosecute identity fraud in collaboration with security agencies and the Ministry of Justice.
The NIMC boss disclosed that the commission has revived its Inspectorate Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) Unit to tackle illegal enrolment centres, identity theft and online fraud, while working with the Office of the National Security Adviser and other security institutions.
She also said the commission has commenced nationwide ward level enrolment following President Tinubu’s directive to ensure that no Nigerian is excluded from government interventions.
According to her, the exercise covers women, children, the elderly, persons with disabilities, refugees and other vulnerable groups to guarantee inclusive national planning and service delivery.
During her meeting with the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Dr. Bernard Doro, Coker-Odusote said the commission is ready to deepen collaboration in areas such as cash transfers, school feeding programmes and other social intervention initiatives using verified digital identity.
She said the “One Identity, One Number” policy under the new NIMC Act would improve transparency, eliminate duplication and ensure that government support reaches genuine beneficiaries.
Doro welcomed the partnership, saying trusted and verifiable identity data would strengthen humanitarian programmes and improve the credibility of government interventions.
He noted that the ministry already relies on validated identity data for cash transfer programmes and described Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) as a critical platform for effective coordination across government agencies.
The NIMC Director-General also held discussions with the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Sen. John Owan Enoh, on expanding digital identity use across the business environment, promoting digital trust and supporting economic reforms through secure identity verification.
She said that President Tinubu’s administration has fostered unprecedented collaboration among ministries, departments and agencies, enabling NIMC to integrate identity services across critical sectors and accelerate Nigeria’s digital transformation.
