As of the end of December 2023, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has recorded a total of 104.16 million Nigerians with National Identification Numbers (NINs). This represents a 10.77% increase from the 94.03 million recorded at the end of December 2022. The figures indicate that 10.13 million Nigerians registered for NINs in 2023, with a monthly average of 844,167 enrollments.
While the number of registrations increased in 2023, it falls significantly short of the Federal Government’s target of 2.5 million registrations per month. Comparatively, the total number of NIN registrations in 2023 is lower than the 21.33 million recorded in 2022.
In its report, NIMC disclosed that Lagos State recorded the highest cumulative enrollment figure, surpassing 11.4 million. The distribution of enrollments showed a nearly equal distribution between the North and South regions.
So far, 530,345 Nigerians in the Diaspora have obtained NINs. The gender distribution indicates that 59.12 million males and 45.04 million females now have NINs.
The top five states for NIN enrollments include Lagos (11.43 million), Kano (9.19 million), Kaduna (6.45 million), Ogun (4.41 million), and Oyo (4.04 million). On the other hand, the bottom five states for enrollments, in descending order, are Taraba (1.49 million), Cross-River (1.19 million), Ekiti (1.03 million), Ebonyi (839,506), and Bayelsa (657,484).
In the National Development Plan 2021-2025, the Federal Government aimed to enroll 100 million Nigerians in three years, averaging 2.5 million people per month. This initiative sought to address the challenge of insufficient data in the country.
NIMC recently appointed a new Director General, and the Acting Director General/Chief Executive Officer, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, emphasized the commitment to a seamless registration process for the National Identification Number (NIN) in Nigeria and the diaspora.
The Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission have also directed individuals to link their bank accounts and SIM cards with their NINs, setting deadlines for compliance to enhance the unified identity system.
