President Bola Tinubu has urged the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to work towards achieving 95 per cent National Identity Number (NIN) coverage by December 2026.

The President gave the directive at the State House, Abuja, while delivering the keynote address at the 2026 National Identity Day celebration organised by NIMC.

He acknowledged NIMC’s excellent work so far, noting that National Identity Number (NIN) enrolment peaked at about 142 million, up from over 80 million Nigerians captured in the National Identity Database when he assumed office more than three years ago.

President Tinubu was represented at the event by his Chief of Staff, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila. The event had the theme: “Nigeria’s digital public ecosystem: powering Africa’s digital economy.”

It was attended by the representative of Vice President Kashim Shettima, Senator Ibrahim Hadejia; the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume; the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo; and the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, amongst others.

President Tinubu said the target should be pursued through expanded ward-level enrolment, mobile registration initiatives and continued deployment of licensed enrolment networks.

The President noted that his administration’s vision goes beyond NIN coverage, stating that Nigeria “must build an identity system that is continuously useful, secure and responsive to the needs of Nigerians.”

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“We are laying the foundations for a future of integrated digital services, including e-health records, e-transport systems and a more harmonised national data architecture.

“We must do this while protecting the rights, privacy and dignity of our citizens. The digital state must never become a state without accountability.

“Our commitment must therefore remain clear: innovation must be matched by responsibility. Efficiency must be matched by inclusion, security must be matched by trust. And digital transformation must ultimately improve the lives of ordinary Nigerians,” President Tinubu said.

The President, who commended the Director General of NIMC, Engr Abisoye Coker-Odusote, for a job well done over the past three years, called on Nigerians who have not obtained their NIN to do so, saying their NIN represents their connection to a modern Nigerian state.

Tinubu also applauded this year’s National Identity Day theme as very important, saying “Nigeria’s digital ecosystem must power Nigeria’s digital economy–and Nigeria’s digital economy must help power Africa’s.”

The President further said National Identity remains the engine room for the government’s Renewed Hope Agenda, noting that identity transformation is contributing directly to the government’s priorities.

“The NIMC ecosystem has created opportunities for thousands of Nigerians across the country. With more than 173 private companies, 30 state governments and 14 public sector institutions approved as licensed enrolment agents, the identity ecosystem is generating employment for enrolment officers, data professionals, supervisors, technology specialists and other support personnel. This is a digital infrastructure creating real economic opportunity,” he said.

Speaking on the significance of national identity to Nigeria’s national security, President Tinubu said the two are linked, describing the connection as indispensable.

“A secure identity system is indispensable to a secure nation. By strengthening identity verification and enabling responsible information sharing across relevant government institutions, we are improving our capacity to combat identity fraud, financial crimes and other threats to national security.

“The ongoing collaboration among institutions, including the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Immigration Service, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, demonstrates what is possible when government systems work together,” President Tinubu said.

The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji- Ojo, also praised the Director General of NIMC for delivering excellent work with little supervision, saying she has shown appreciable leadership.

He said the President expected more from her and her team, adding that Nigerians need wider, easier, and more convenient access to identity services, including for Nigerians in the diaspora.

“We need more in providing a trusted national public key infrastructure and digital public infrastructure that support secure digital identity, authentication and electronic trust services, more in including a stronger foundation for Nigeria’s digital economy, digital governance and long-term national development,” Tunji-Ojo said.

The Director General of NIMC, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, in her remarks, commended President Tinubu and the Minister of Interior for their support, saying it has brought about a total transformation of Nigeria’s identity and existence.

She said, “Our reach tells its own story. Enrolments have grown from less than 100 million to over 142 million Nigerians and legal residents. The engine behind that growth is the ward-to-ward Enrolment Project, undertaken directly under Mr President’s initiative.

“This project carried our officers into all 8, 8,809 boards of this Federation and mobilised the National Youth Service Corps members as adult enrolment officers in connection with front-end partners in communities that had never before hosted an enrolment desk.

“Alongside it, we launched the Self- Service Notification Platform, which has already processed close to two million record updates, turning a process that once took weeks in two communities into one that takes 24 to 48 hours directly from a citizen’s phone.” (The Nation)