The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has enrolled over 137 million Nigerians into the National Identification Number (NIN) database, as President Bola Tinubu directed the agency to ensure full nationwide registration before the end of 2026.
The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of NIMC, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, disclosed this during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, where she discussed the newly amended NIMC Act and its implications for Nigeria’s digital identity ecosystem.
According to her, a total of 137,371,080 Nigerians had been captured in the NIN database as of Sunday evening, although millions remain unregistered based on varying population estimates.
“As of this evening, we have enrolled 137,371,080 Nigerians,” she said.
“We still have a gap because Nigeria’s population is estimated at about 200 million, while some projections put it at 230 million or even 250 million. When we complete the enrolment process, we will have a clearer picture of the actual population.”
Coker-Odusote revealed that President Tinubu has given the Commission a deadline of the end of 2026 to complete the nationwide enrolment exercise.
“The President has directed that we ensure every Nigerian is captured before the end of this year,” she said.
To meet this target, she explained that NIMC has expanded its enrolment efforts beyond local government offices to wards and communities through partnerships under the World Bank-supported Identification for Development (ID4D) project.
She added that the Commission has engaged private sector front-end partners to bring registration services closer to citizens at the grassroots level.
“We have partnered under the World Bank ID4D project with front-end partners who are part of the digital identity ecosystem. They are enrolling citizens on our behalf at the community level,” she said.
Coker-Odusote stressed that under the amended NIMC Act, obtaining a National Identification Number is now mandatory for all Nigerians, describing the NIN as the country’s foundational identity system.