The Director General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Engineer Abisoye Coker-Odusote, has said that the achievements recorded by the Commission in the last two years have been made possible by the unflinching support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Coker-Odusote stated this in her opening remarks at the two-day roundtable with online publishers which held in Lagos from July 17-18, 2025.

The NIMC boss who disclosed that the funding of NIMC has drastically improved since President Tinubu assumed office, thanked the president for his interest and commitment to a more robust and inclusive digital identity system for Nigeria.

Enumerating the achievements of NIMC especially since she assumed duty as the chief executive officer of the Commission, Coker-Odusote said that before now, the identity ecosystem in Nigeria was fragmented, revenue-gulping, and exclusionary. But today, she said that story is changing. “Through collaboration with our stakeholders, we are building a unified, secure, and people-centered ID system – one that is becoming the cornerstone of national planning, financial inclusion, economic empowerment, and digital governance”, she said.

She disclosed that: “Since January 2022 when NIN enrolment stood at 72.7 million, we have recorded a phenomenal increase. As of July 2025, enrolment stands at over 122million and counting. This represents a 49% increase in enrolment rate, which is a clear testament to the progress we have made in just over three years”. Coker-Odusote added that monthly, millions of Nigerians are now being enrolled and issued a verifiable means of identification, thereby unlocking access to critical services in education, agriculture, healthcare, social protection, and beyond.

Dwelling on institutional and systemic reforms being implemented by her administration, Coker-Odusote stated thus:

• We have focused our efforts on addressing the deep-rooted issues that once plagued the identity enrolment process
• Extortion and unofficial fees have been curtailed by over 40%, thanks to our enforcement of a transparent fee structure
• Enrolment remains free, and modification and authentication fees are standardised and publicly disclosed
• On the infrastructure front, we have invested in system automation, backend upgrades, and capacity expansion.
• NIMC’s strategic collaborations with many government organisations have significantly enhanced service delivery across critical sectors. Key partners include the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Immigration Service, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and the National Correctional Service (NCoS). These collaborations support identity verification for inmates, staff, and service processes within the correctional system. Recent partnerships also extend to the National Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), CreditCorp, and the National Pension Commission (PENCOM), which has integrated its Enhanced Contributor Registration System (ECRS) with the NIMC database to improve data accuracy and reduce pension-related fraud. Collectively, these collaborations have streamlined verification processes, enhanced access to essential services, and strengthened public confidence in identity-based systems.

Beyond technical integration, these partnerships continue to deliver tangible benefits to millions of Nigerians. Students now access educational loans more efficiently through NELFUND, while entrepreneurs and small businesses receive timely and transparent disbursements from SMEDAN and the Bank of Industry. Through a NIN-enabled farmer registry managed by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, verified farmers benefit from targeted subsidy programmes. Workers experience smoother compensation processes via NSITF, and individuals can build verifiable credit histories through CreditCorp. Collectively, these initiatives reflect how a secure and unified digital identity system can open doors to education, financial inclusion, enterprise support, and social protection, driving real and inclusive progress across the country.

• We have also introduced digital tools such as the NINAuth mobile app, the Self-Service NIN Enrolment and Modification app, and Contactless Biometric Solutions. Together, these tools have improved accuracy, reduced waiting times, and empowered millions of Nigerians to securely enroll, update, or verify their identity at their convenience. This aligns our processes with global ID4D standards for data protection and enhances user experience by making identity services faster, more accessible, and citizen-centered.

Coker-Odusote said “everyone deserves a verifiable means of ID, and our mission is to ensure no one is left behind”.