The Federal Government has set December 2026 as the deadline to achieve 95 per cent population coverage under Nigeria’s National Identification Number system.
Chief of Staff to the President Femi Gbajabiamila announced the target at the 2026 National Day of Identity, saying the national identity database had grown from about 80 million records at the beginning of the administration to nearly 140 million.
The government is positioning digital identity as a central platform for access to public services, financial transactions, education, social interventions and economic participation.
Gbajabiamila said every verified identity represented a citizen or legal resident who could more easily interact with public institutions and participate in the formal economy.
To close the remaining enrollment gap, the government is expanding registration to all 8,809 wards across the country.
More than 5,000 enrollment agents have been trained to support the exercise, including outreach to older persons, persons with disabilities and other groups who may face barriers reaching conventional registration centers.
The National Identity Management Commission said the ward-level program had driven much of the recent expansion in the database.
Director-General Abisoye Coker-Odusote said the commission was also working to improve services for people who already have NINs.
She said the Self-Service Modification Platform had processed close to two million changes to personal records and reduced processing times from weeks to between 24 and 48 hours in many cases.
NIMC also plans to begin issuing physical National e-ID cards before the end of the year.
Coker-Odusote said the biometric cards would support identity verification, government benefits and financial-payment functions, including use in areas with weak internet connectivity.
The National Identity Management Commission Act 2026 has also expanded NIMC’s regulatory responsibilities and strengthened provisions on data protection, mandatory use of NIN in critical sectors and penalties for identity-related offences.
The government says the identity programme will also support planning in education, health, social protection and security.
Education Minister Tunji Alausa said reliable identity records would help government better track pupils, students and teachers and improve efforts to identify out-of-school children.
Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo said verified population data could also improve decisions on where schools, healthcare services and social interventions should be located.
The push to reach 95 per cent coverage will require NIMC to expand quickly while protecting data accuracy, privacy and security.
The government says the objective is not simply to increase the size of the database but to build a trusted national identity infrastructure that can support public administration and digital services across the country.
