NIMC eyes NIN enrollment for every Nigerian by year-end

More than 120 million Nigerians have been successfully enrolled in the National Identity Database, marking a major milestone in the National Identity Management Commission's enrollment campaign.

This accomplishment is a significant step toward the commission's lofty target of enrolling all lawful residents and citizens of Nigeria by the end of 2025.

At a press briefing held at the commission's headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday, Director-General Mrs. Abisoye Coker-Odusote revealed that in order to guarantee that no Nigerian is left out of the national identity registration system, NIMC has not only surpassed its initial database capacity of 100 million but has also expanded its infrastructure to accommodate up to 250 million enrollees.

“So one of the key things we’ve done is to be able to enrol every single Nigerian. Our initial capacity was 100 million,” Coker-Odusote said. “Now we have expanded to 250 million. And just to let you know, as of yesterday morning, we had enrolled 120,040,000 Nigerians. So we have enrolled that many Nigerians and counted.”

She further affirmed the Commission’s commitment to capturing every Nigerian citizen and legal resident before the end of the year, describing this goal as essential for national planning, security, and social services.

“We are definitely going to ensure that we enrol all Nigerians and hopefully capture all Nigerians before the end of this year,” Coker-Odusote added.

The National Identification Number has become a crucial requirement for accessing various government services, banking, telecommunications, and student loans. Coker-Odusote emphasised that the national identity system is vital for reducing fraud and providing a unified identity system for Nigerians across sectors.

“The NIN will enable Nigerians to access student loans, credit facilities, and government support programmes with ease, ensuring that there is no duplication and reducing the risk of identity fraud,” she said.

Coker-Odusote also addressed the issue of extortion and corruption in the enrolment process, revealing that NIMC has successfully reduced such incidents by at least 40 per cent. This improvement, she explained, was achieved through a combination of reforms, better staff training, and a partnership with the World Bank under the Nigeria Identification for Development project.

Through the Frontier Partners program, the business sector has been instrumental in extending the scope of NIMC's services, and the cooperation has greatly increased enrollment numbers.

"They [Frontier Partners] collaborate with us by enrolling Nigerians in communities. We have greatly benefited from this private sector integration," Coker-Odusote stated, emphasizing how the Commission has been able to reach people in both urban and rural areas because to this collaboration.

In addition, she highlighted the employment opportunities brought about by the partnership with the private sector, pointing out that state and local government offices now have better facilities and qualified staff to assist with NIN registration and revision procedures.

"By providing state and local government offices with modern facilities and skilled staff to facilitate NIN registration and modification procedures, we have created job possibilities," she stated.

Coker-Odusote went on to talk about the launch of a number of digital platforms designed to streamline the enrollment procedure and cut down on lengthy lines.

One of these is the online pre-enrollment platform, which reduces processing time by 50% by enabling citizens to schedule appointments and pre-fill their information prior to visiting enrolling sites.

"We have simplified the procedure so that citizens can easily submit their biometrics for updating and verification," she said.

The DG also emphasized the inauguration of the Self-Assist Modification Platform, which enables citizens to alter their personal data online.

This tool also eliminates the necessity for in-person visits to enrollment centers by enabling Nigerians who have moved or need to update their information to do so safely.