The National Identity Management Commission has announced that it is targeting the enrolment of 200 million Nigerians in the National Identification Number system by 2025.
The Head of Corporate Communications at the commission, Kayode Adegoke, disclosed this on X Space on Sunday.
“As of today, over 105 million NIN have been issued to Nigerians and legal residents. We want to assure Nigerians that within the next one or two years, we will reach our target of enrolling all Nigerians,” he said.
However, to reach its target of 200 million enrollments by 2025, an additional 95 million Nigerians need to register.
The NIN, a unique identifier assigned to each citizen, has gained prominence in recent years as the cornerstone of various government initiatives aimed at enhancing security, governance, and service delivery.
The NIMC spokesperson said the commission remained steadfast in its commitment to achieving universal enrolment in the NIN system by 2025.
Adegoke noted that following Abisoye Coker’s appointment as the director-general of MIMC, she recognised the need to streamline the modification and enrolment processes.
He added that a self-service platform was developed, enabling Nigerians, both locally and abroad, to make necessary modifications such as changing names, dates of birth, email addresses, and phone numbers from the comfort of their homes or offices, using various devices, including iOS and Android-based devices.
Adegoke emphasised the convenience of the self-service modification portal, urging Nigerians to take advantage of this innovative solution.
He highlighted the evolution of the process, noting that in the past, applicants had to visit NIMC offices for data corrections.
Last week, NIMC and IDEMIA Smart Identity agreed to renew their long-standing collaboration to upgrade NIMC’s biometrics.
The firm leverages the power of cryptographic and biometric technologies to unlock a single trusted identity.
IDEMIA said that the upgraded system would handle 1 million 1:1 and 1:N identity verification searches per day.
According to the firm, originally designed to support 100 million national identity numbers, the system has already reached its peak and requires this extension to address the entire Nigerian population.
The identity company stated that NIMC was already positioned to achieve the sustainable development goals set for 2030 by the United Nations, which call for a legal identity for all by the year 2030.