President Bola Tinubu has directed the National Identity Management Commission to increase National Identification Number enrolment to 95 per cent of Nigeria’s population by December 2026.
Tinubu gave the directive on Wednesday in Abuja during the 2026 National Identity Day celebration organised by NIMC.
Represented by his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, the President said NIN enrolment had increased to about 142 million from over 80 million people captured in the National Identity Database when his administration assumed office.
He said the government would now focus on closing the remaining identity gap through ward-level registration, mobile enrolment and licensed registration agents.
“The next target is clear: we must work towards 95 per cent coverage by December 2026,” Tinubu said.
The President said the government was also working towards developing an interconnected digital public system that would support services including electronic health records and transport systems while improving coordination among government agencies.
He, however, stressed the need to protect citizens’ privacy and other rights as the digital identity system expands.
According to Tinubu, 173 private companies, 30 state governments and 14 public sector institutions have been licensed to participate in NIN enrolment.
The NIMC Director-General, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, said enrolment had risen from fewer than 100 million to more than 142 million Nigerians and legal residents.
She attributed the increase largely to the commission’s ward-to-ward enrolment initiative, which expanded registration services to the country’s 8,809 wards.
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, also called for further expansion of the identity system, including improved services for Nigerians living abroad.
He said a reliable digital identity infrastructure would be important to Nigeria’s digital economy and electronic governance.
