Latest data released by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has shown that enrolment for the National Identification Number (NIN) rose to 95.07 million as of January 22, 2023.
This shows that a total of 1.04 million enrolments have been recorded this month as the total figure stood at 94.03 million at the end of 2022.
According to the statistics, Lagos State has so far recorded the highest number of enrolments in the country with 10,5 million Nigerians captured in the State. This was followed by Kano State, which recorded 8.3 million registered NIN. The two most populous states in Nigeria, according to the data from the National Bureau of Statistics have maintained the lead in NIN enrolment since the beginning of the exercise.
Gender distribution: In terms of the gender distribution of the enrolees, the NIMC data reveals that 53.6 million, representing 56% of Nigerians so far captured in the NIN database are male, while 41.4 million, representing 44% are female.
Top and bottom state: Aside from Lagos and Kano, other states that made the top ten in terms of the number of enrolments include Kaduna with 5.6 million; Ogun with 3.9 million; Oyo with 3.75 million; FCT with 33.29 million; Katsina with 3,27 million; Rivers 2.86 million; Bauchi 2.58 million and Delta with 2.54 million.
NIMC data shows that the 10 states with the lowest NIN issued are Kogi 1.64 million; Akwa-Ibom 1.62 million, Imo 1.59 million, Enugu 1.53 million, Yobe 1.44 million, Taraba 1.4 million Cross River 1.08 million, Ekiti 982,264, Ebonyi 762,993, and Bayelsa 602,705.
Back story: Nigeria had for years struggled to create a credible national database through the NIN without success. However, with the new government’s policy introduced in December 2020 mandating all mobile subscribers to link their SIM with NIN, many Nigerians are being forced to enrol for the national number.
- To address the infrastructure limitations of NIMC, which had slowed the process for years, several companies, including telecommunications operators, were licensed to act as enrolment agents. The government’s directive in April this year mandated telecom operators to bar outgoing calls from telephone lines not linked, affecting about 75 million lines.
- Many of the affected subscribers were forced to go for the NIN enrolment and link their lines to have it restored for communications.
