NIMC records over 123m enrolments

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) currently stands at over 123.9 million unique records. The highest cumulative enrolment figure of over 13 million was recorded in Lagos State. Regional figures indicated an almost equal distribution across the North and South.

Allegations of extortion have continued to drag the initiative backwards as some unscrupulous front end partners of NIMC continued to collect N5,000 for enrolling people for the National Identity Numbers (NINs).

While NIMC has insisted that registration for NIN is free, Nigerians continued to be brazenly extorted raising concerns as to who is telling lies.

Even officials at the various local government councils where Nigerians could enroll are allegedly charged N5000.

A widow, Mrs B Adeniran, lamented that she has not been able to retrieve her lost subscriber identity module (SIM) card because of the NIN requirement. “When I visited Igbogila, the headquarters of Ipaja/Ayobo Local Development Council Area (LCDA), I was charged N5000. I didn’t have that type of cash but because I needed it to get my telephone numbers back because they are linked to my bank accounts, I had to beg my children to help me out. I paid an unreciepted N500 before I was enrolled,” she lamented.

A mother of four, Iya Elija, a resident of Ijagba community in Ado Odo Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, shared similar frustration in getting NIN. “I don’t have NIN and that is why I don’t have any bank account with the fintechs. They are asking me for N5000. I don’t have that type of money,” she said. An industrious housewife who supports her husband’s earnings by doing cleaning jobs around, she said instead of her clients paying directly into her account, she uses the bank accounts of Point of Sale (PoS) agents around her to collect her money. “The charges are usually not friendly each time I go and collect my salary through them,” she added.

The experiences of Adeniran and Iya Elijah are fairly representative of what people, especially in the rural areas go through with NIN enrolment. 

For gender distribution of the enrolment, according to NIMC data, a total of 69,700,164 representing 56.25 per cent of males were captured while 54,206,154 representing 43.75 per cent of female were enrolled during the period under review and were given their unique NINs.

According to figures from the Commission, enrolment figures last reported was for October 31, 2025.

Aside Lagos that led the other states posting 3,118,103 enrolment figures, NIMC also identified nine others as the top leading states in terms of registration. The others are Kano with 11,585,366, Kaduna with 7,326,730, Ogun- 5,126,323 and Oyo with 4,720,812.

Others are Katsina with 4,219,535; FCT Abuja- 4,063,297; Rivers -3,672,851; Delta- 3,372,654; and Bauchi -3,228,900.

NIMC also identified another set of states it described as Bottom 10 States for NIN Enrolment as at October 31 2025. The states are Kwara with 2,098,908; Imo- 2,098,133; Yobe- 2,091,201; Enugu- 2,016,733; and Kogi- 1,950,314.

Others are Taraba- 1,863,322; Cross River- 1,426,932; Ekiti- 1,169,710; Ebonyi- 1,038,675; and Bayelsa- 803,874.

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