FG upgrades NIN platform to register more Nigerians abroad

Daily Trust reports that 122 million Nigerians have so far been enrolled into the NIN database.

Lagos has the highest number of enrollees at 12.7 million, followed by Kano with 10.4 million and Kaduna with 6.9 million. Other top-performing states include Ogun (4.9 million), Oyo (4.5 million), and Katsina (4 million). The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) recorded 3.8 million, Rivers 3.5 million, Delta 3.2 million, and Jigawa 3.1 million.

In contrast, Bayelsa recorded the lowest enrolment with 767,620. Ebonyi followed with 999,991, and Ekiti with 1.1 million. Others with low enrolment figures include Cross River, Taraba, and Yobe with 1.4 million, 1.7 million, and 1.8 million, respectively.

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Gender distribution in the data showed a gap, with 66.9 million registered males compared to 51.5 million females, representing 56.5 per cent, 43.5 per cent, respectively.

Despite the progress, Nigeria is still behind on its target.

The country had missed the June 30, 2024, deadline set by the World Bank to register at least 148 million people. This led to a two-year extension of the World Bank-backed Digital Identity for National Development (ID4D) project, now set to close on June 30, 2026.

Meanwhile, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in a statement on Monday said it had upgraded the NIN process to allow more Nigerians in the diaspora to enrol seamlessly.

It said the process, which was successfully completed, would, amongst many other benefits, provide a seamless, robust, more secure, efficient and effective NIN service delivery to Nigerians in the diaspora.

“Consequently, NIMC Diaspora Front-End Partners (FEPs) have been onboarded on the upgraded system with intensive training to equip the FEPs with the prerequisite knowledge on the application and effective management of the new system.

“While all the Diaspora FEPs are required to obtain and activate their NIN enrolment licences on the upgraded platform within the next forty-eight hours (48 hours), diaspora applicants can access enrolment services from the compliant FEPs”, NIMC’s spokesman, Kayode Adegoke said in the statement.

The Commission apologised for any inconvenience the platform upgrade process might have caused, adding that it had set up a dedicated service team to resolve all issues related to diaspora enrolment.

He urged NIN holders to download the NIMC NINAuth App on either iOS or Google Play Store to instantly verify their NINs, approve who sees their information, take total control of their data and enjoy seamless verification and authentication services.