Nigeria looks beyond enrollment as digital ID passes 130 million

Nigeria has the biggest national digital ID system in Africa with more than 130 million people already enrolled for a National Identification Number (NIN).

While NIN enrollment continues to expand, attention is increasingly turning to data integrity, public trust and how Nigeria can transform digital public infrastructure into digital public ecosystems that deliver services at scale.

Dubbed the Nigeria Digital Identification for Development Project, the initiative is funded by the World Bank, with other pecuniary support from the French Development Agency, and the European Investment Bank, for a total amount of $430 million.

Initiated in 2020, the project was restructured in 2024, with a new target requiring the government to enroll at least 180 million people for the NIN by December 31, 2026.

Apart from the enrollment figure, the restructuring and funding extension was also linked to other conditions which the government was required to fulfil in order to better support Nigeria’s progress towards universal legal identity, in line with the SDG 16.9.

With just six months to go to the deadline, some have been asking if the federal government will be able to attain that ambitious target, which if met, would see more than three quarters of the country’s estimated 220 million people enjoy identity coverage.

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), which is responsible for overseeing identity related matters in the country, believes it has the capacity to reach that target, which would mean enrolling at least 3.3 million people every month.

A few months ago, it launched a nationwide NIN registration campaign targeting all the wards cross the country, with mobile teams deployed to difficult-to-reach areas to enroll citizens. Speaking on Channels TV in February, NIMC’s Director of the South-East Territorial Zone, Uche Chigbo, said before December, they aim to reach at least 95 percent of Nigerians through the ward enrollments.

In the past, ID registration support has also come from partners to accompany the efforts. Through the Korea International Development Agency, the Nigerian Postal Service, last year, received 350 biometric registration devices to support community enrollment efforts. The NIMC is also working with youth corps volunteers to drive registration.

Building on progress

For many, Nigeria’s digital identity system has the potential to evolve beyond enrollment into a platform that enables secure access to trusted public and private sector services. A recent IN Groupe report that studied identity programs in 200 countries or territories listed Nigeria among 13 low or middle-income nations said to have attained “leader status” with their digital ID programs.

What this means is that Nigeria cannot now lie on its laurels, but rather build on that progress. Over the years, the government has integrated the NIN across several use cases including for things like SIM registration, bank verification, customer onboarding, exams registration, and social protection schemes.

It is expected that such efforts will continue as Nigeria looks beyond enrollment toward transforming its digital ID and broader digital public infrastructure into a platform for trusted service delivery. The shift reflects a broader theme that emerged at the 2026 ID4Africa AGM in Abidjan: moving from digital public infrastructure to digital public ecosystems that deliver tangible benefits to citizens. Speaking during the event, NIMC Director General Abisoye Coker-Odusote said Nigeria’s goal is not only to build an identity system at scale, but one that enables access to services, preserves sovereignty and strengthens public trust.

Article Topics

Africa  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  identity management  |  National Identity Management Commission (NIMC)  |  National Identity Number (NIN)  |  Nigeria  |  World Bank