The National Identification Number (NIN) database being managed by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) grew by seven million in the first half of 2025 as the Commission races to register 95% of Nigerians by year-end.
According to the enrolment dashboard, a total of 121 million people had been issued the NIN as of June 30, 2025.
At the end of 2024, the enrolment figure stood at 114 million.
While the database had grown by 10 million in 2024, from 104 million in December 2023 to 114 million in December 2024, the growth recorded in the first half of 2025 shows that the country is on track to surpass last year’s record.
Lagos leads with 12.9 million
The NIMC data shows that the highest cumulative enrolment figure of over 12.9 million was recorded in Lagos State.
- The State has maintained the top spot since the beginning of the registration exercise alongside Kano State, which occupies the second position with 11.07 million enrolments as of June 2025.
- Kaduna State displaced Ogun to occupy the third position with 7.1 million, while the latter place 4th 5.06 million enrolments.
- In terms of the gender distribution of the enrollees, the NIMC data reveals that 68.4 million, representing 56.5% of Nigerians so far captured in the NIN database, are male. On the flip side, 52.9 million, representing 43.5% of the total enrollees, are female.
Fast-tracking enrollment with Youth Corps members
To meet its target of enrolling 95% of Nigerians by the end of this year, NIMC is deploying Youth Corps members to cover hitherto unreachable areas through its Ward Enrolment initiative.
“The Corps members selected are currently undergoing intensive training in preparation for the kick-off of the ward enrollment.
“Consequently, Nigerians, most especially children below the age of 16 years, are by this initiative encouraged to enrol for the NIN in their respective wards. This initiative aims to take NIN enrolment closer to the people,” NIMC said in a recent statement.
NIMC DG/CEO, Engr Abisoye Coker-Odusote, asserted that the Ward Enrollment exercise, when completed, will allow the government to know the actual number of Nigerians and make it easy to plan effectively for the citizens.
What you should know
Nigeria, through the World Bank’s Digital Identity for National Development (ID4D) project, is currently striving to register all its citizens in the NIN database.
- Last year, the country missed the deadline set by the World Bank to capture at least 148 million Nigerians by June 30. This led to the extension and restructuring of the project by the World Bank
- According to the Bank, the extension was necessary to guarantee the complete disbursement of the $430 million pledged for the project by the financiers.
- The project is being co-financed by the French Development Agency (AFD), and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
- With the restructuring of the project, the Bank said the closure has now been extended by two years to June 30, 2026.
Does this means that citizens can get enrolled and even issued a premium NIN anywhere across the world