The National Identity Management Commission, NIMC has intensified efforts to boost enrollment into the National Identification Number, NIN database, rolling out a ward-level registration exercise across the country.
Speaking during a live programme on Lagos Traffic Radio 96.1FM, Lagos Regional Coordinator, Oladele Lassisi, said the initiative followed a presidential directive aimed at expanding access to registration, especially in hard-to-reach communities.
He revealed that over one hundred and twenty million Nigerians have so far been enrolled nationwide, while Lagos State alone has recorded over fourteen million registrations through more than fifty-five enrollment centres spread across local governments and special locations.
Oladele explained that the ongoing ward-level exercise, which commenced on February sixteen, is a six-week pilot programme that will run on a rotational basis across Nigeria’s eight thousand, eight hundred and nine wards.
According to him, the objective is to take registration closer to the people rather than waiting for citizens to visit centres only when the NIN becomes urgently required for services such as bank transactions, passport applications or school admissions.
He stressed that fresh NIN registration is free of charge at official NIMC centres and during the ward-level exercise, warning Nigerians against paying unauthorised agents.
While licensed agents may request logistics fees for special arrangements, he maintained that citizens can avoid such charges by visiting designated NIMC offices directly.
Also speaking, Lagos East State Coordinator, Olumide Aremu, clarified that the NIN is a foundational identity that cuts across all sectors, unlike functional identification documents such as driver’s licences or bank verification numbers.
He noted that NIMC has harmonised several Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) with NIN records but urged Nigerians who have not completed biometric capture to visit centres for fingerprint and photograph enrollment.
On data security concerns, Regional Head of Inspectorate, Compliance and Enforcement, Victoria Ikemefuna, assured Nigerians that the NIMC database is secure and equipped to detect unauthorised access.
She warned against sharing NIN details indiscriminately, explaining that identity theft remains a risk if individuals release their numbers without proper verification.
Ikemefuna added that only authorised verification through the official NIMC mobile application should be used to authenticate identity details.
The Commission encouraged Nigerians, including those in the diaspora, to take advantage of the ongoing exercise and ensure they are properly registered, as the NIN remains a critical requirement for accessing government and private sector services.
NIMC further advised citizens seeking corrections to their records that modifications can now be completed within 48 to 72 hours, either at designated centres or through approved self-service platforms.
