The administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has mandated the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to begin nationwide ward-level enrollment for the National Identification Number (NIN). In regards to this directive, the NIMC announced that the ward-level national ID enrollment will begin on February 16, 2026.
Now, every Nigerian citizen and legal residents, including youth, new born babies, children, will be registered into the NIMC database. Notably, the agency has made it clear that the enrollment is free for everyone, and it follows the administration's motive of deepening identity inclusion. As of October, 2025, NIMC says 123.9 million Nigerians had been issued NIN.
Nigeria launched an initiative to register all citizens into the NIN database in 2020. The project is backed by World Bank’s Digital Identity for National Development (ID4D), which mandated the country to register at least 148 million Nigerians by June 30. Meanwhile, Nigeria didn't meet the deadline, which later led to an additional extension and restructure of the project.
The World Bank made it clear that Nigeria must meet the requirements, which is why the extension was granted. The Bank noted that the project, co-financed by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), required the extension to ensure the complete disbursement of the $430 million pledged by the bank.
Considering the restructure that Nigeria has made, World Bank says the project has received additional 2-years extension. Therefore, NIMC is expected to have issued NIN to 180 million Nigerians by the end of 2026. In respect to the presidential directive, NIMC has begun consultations and awareness campaigns at national, state, and local government levels to ensure a smooth rollout of its ward-to-ward registration exercise.
In addition to that, the Commission is engaging state and local government officials, traditional and community leaders, market associations, and faith-based organizations to support public awareness and mobilization. The commission also urges citizens to participate and parents to make that their children are readily available for the enrollment.
