NIN Growth Surges, But Weak Inter-Agency Coordination Threatens Nigeria’s Digital Identity Goals

By DAVID JOHN-FLUKE

A Digital Identity Success Undermined by Institutional Failure

NIGERIA’S national identity project is, on paper, one of the most ambitious public-sector transformations in the country’s history. With 124 million National Identity Numbers (NINs) issued as of October, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has achieved in two decades what previous administrations could barely initiate.

Yet, behind this impressive enrolment milestone lies a chronic institutional dysfunction that threatens the very goal of a unified, secure, and efficient national identity database. The problem is not technology. It is not capacity. It is a government system unable—or unwilling—to work together.

A National Identity System Finally Taking Shape

NIMC’s Deputy Director of Strategy, Alvan Ikoku, recently disclosed that NIN enrolment has grown from 14 million in 2000 to 124 million today—a staggering expansion that reflects rising public adoption, better infrastructure, and broader integration with essential services such as passports, SIM registration, and banking.

The data also offer a sharp picture of geographic distribution:

• Lagos leads with 13.1 million NIN holders, followed by Kano (11.5 million) and Kaduna (7.3 million).

• States at the bottom—including Bayelsa, Ebonyi and Ekiti—trail with fewer than 1.2 million registered citizens.

• The diaspora contributes another 1.53 million NINs, showing strong uptake among Nigerians abroad.

These numbers demonstrate a system becoming central to civic life. But numbers alone cannot tell the full story.

The Stalled Dream of Data Harmonisation

At the heart of Nigeria’s identity reform agenda is a promise: One citizen, one identity, one database.

But according to Ikoku, this promise is dangerously off-track.

The reason is embarrassingly simple: poor interagency cooperation.

Despite several directives mandating harmonisation, key institutions protect their data silos, often citing internal rules that have not been updated in decades. The country’s voter register, BVN database, drivers’ licence records, SIM registration data, and immigration systems remain scattered across ministries and agencies that refuse to fully integrate with NIMC.

The result? A national identity ecosystem that is functional—but fragmented. Efficient—but incomplete. Ambitious—but undermined by bureaucratic turf wars.

This fragmentation has real consequences: duplication, fraud risks, inefficient service delivery, and the inability to build a truly interoperable digital government system.

The Structural Burdens Holding NIMC Back

Beyond interagency resistance, NIMC faces the classic constraints of Nigeria’s public institutions:

• Chronic underfunding and inadequate infrastructure

• Outdated enrolment equipment, especially in rural areas

• Low public awareness

• Interoperability challenges with legacy government systems

• Weak perception and trust issues among some communities

These constraints matter because a national ID is not merely an administrative tool; it is a gateway to social protection, security, digital services, and financial inclusion.

When identity systems fail, everything else fails with them.

A Blueprint for the Next 12 Months

To its credit, NIMC has mapped out an ambitious agenda for the year ahead:

• Expand ABIS biometric capacity to 250 million

• Roll out NIMC 2.0 and foundational elements of the Nigeria Digital Stack

• Deploy mobile enrolment units to rural communities, IDP camps, and prisons

• Fully implement the national Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)

• Launch the General Multi-Purpose Card, a single card for financial services, travel, and social interventions

These initiatives, if executed well, could transform Nigeria’s identity ecosystem into one of Africa’s most advanced.

But that “if” depends almost entirely on whether government agencies finally choose collaboration over rivalry.

EDITORIAL VIEW: The Missing Link Is Political Will

Nigeria does not suffer from a shortage of identity systems; it suffers from a surplus of institutional ego. For two decades, each agency has guarded its data like personal property. Meanwhile, citizens are forced to repeatedly verify themselves across different platforms—SIM registration today, BVN tomorrow, voters’ card the next year.

The country’s digital identity ambitions will remain stuck unless political leadership:

1. Mandates full data harmonisation with legal backing

2. Enforces compliance across MDAs

3. Funds NIMC at a level consistent with national priority

4. Builds public trust through transparency and accountability

Without these steps, Nigeria risks building a massive identity database that still cannot deliver seamless service, secure elections, or a unified social protection system.

The Road Ahead

NIMC’s 124 million NIN milestone is a victory—but an incomplete one. The commission has done the heavy lifting. The next stage requires cooperation across every corner of government.

If Nigeria truly wants a digital future where services are efficient, identity theft is reduced, and governance is data-driven, then agencies must harmonise—not hoard—data.

The national identity project is too important to fail. And right now, its greatest enemy is not technology.

It is institutional inertia.