Idris: Reliable Identity System Key for National Planning and Financial Inclusion

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has said a strong and inclusive national identity system was indispensable for effective governance, national planning, financial inclusion, digital transformation and the successful implementation of the Renewed Hope Agenda.

He asserted this yesterday in Abuja while receiving the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Dr Abisoye Coker-Odusote, and her management team that paid a visit to present the landmark provisions and strategic implications of the newly enacted NIMC Act 2026.

“Identity management is at the heart of the reform agenda of Mr. President, because if you are reforming, you have to know who you are reforming for. If you don’t know the number of people that you have and the demography and what they represent, how do you plan for them?” Idris said.

He said the federal government had intensified efforts to achieve universal digital identity enrolment across the country through a strengthened partnership between the Ministry of Information and National Orientation and the NIMC as part of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

The  minister stressed that achieving universal identity coverage required sustained public enlightenment and grassroots mobilisation, urging NIMC to deepen its collaboration with the National Orientation Agency (NOA), whose presence in all the 774 Local Government Areas provided an effective platform for reaching every Nigerian.

He lauded the leadership of Dr. Coker-Odusote for the Commission’s transformation over the past three years, noting that the enrolment of over 136 million Nigerians and legal residents into the National Identity Database was a significant progress toward building a reliable national identity ecosystem.

“The 136 million already captured is very significant, but we still have about 100 million Nigerians left, and they also ought to be captured. Every Nigerian deserves to be included in our national planning,” he stated.

In addition, he thanked the Commission for maintaining a secure identity ecosystem without any reported data breach, assuring NIMC that all public communication platforms under the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, including the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), would be fully deployed to support nationwide sensitisation on the benefits of digital identity.

Earlier, the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lanre Issa-Onilu, reaffirmed the Agency’s readiness to support NIMC’s nationwide enrolment campaign through its extensive grassroots network.

“We know we’ve been working together, but I hope you will be coming forward so we can see how we can assist you, because we are present in those areas where you want to go and carry out public enlightenment and sensitisation,” Issa-Onilu said.

Responding, Coker-Odusote, said the newly enacted NIMC Act 2026  has modernised Nigeria’s identity management framework by incorporating provisions on data protection, cybersecurity, digital public infrastructure and digital trust while positioning NIMC as the country’s foundational digital identity authority.

“The President gave us marching orders to commence the ward enrolment exercise because he wanted the people in the rural areas and at the community level not to be disenfranchised from any government intervention programme,” she said.