Nigeria’s digital identity program is central to the country’s plans to build a robust digital economy and enable efficient public service delivery. While significant progress has been made, structural challenges remain. Without reforms that promote inclusive access and improve service delivery, the program could fall short of its goal to drive national development.
Today, over half of Nigerians hold some form of digital ID. According to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Nigeria’s digital ID agency, a total of 121 million digital ID numbers had been issued as of 30 June 2025.
This is an important foundation for Nigeria’s digital economy and public service transformation. The National Identification Number (NIN) program is one of the central pillars of Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), allowing access to seamless identity verification and access to various services.
However, while the continued growth of the NIN program represents significant progress in the country’s digital identity journey, challenges remain when it comes to ensuring its widespread enrollment and in delivering an inclusive, secure, and interoperable system capable of delivering benefits to all citizens.
The Nigerian government has intensified efforts to scale up NIN enrollment. Registration with NIN is now a prerequisite for accessing nearly all government services and for identity verification to get a driver’s license, passport, or voter’s card.
A major development in this digital identity push is the recent launch of the General Multipurpose National Identity Card, developed by the NIMC in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria and Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS). The General Multi-purpose Card (GMPC) will serve several functions, including financial services and access to government services.
Remaining challenges: inclusion, integrity, and interoperability
Despite momentum, several challenges remain that could undermine Nigeria’s overall digital ID objectives. Chief among them is the rural-urban divide. Media reports – like this article by SaharaReporters – expose the realities of poor access to services in rural communities, where awareness about NIN remains low and access to enrollment facilities is limited. Enrollment requires internet connectivity for data capture, but many rural communities lack adequate broadband access. With broadband coverage of just under 48% as of March 2025, Nigerian policymakers must prioritise ramping up internet access across the country.
Cybersecurity risk is another area of concern. The credibility of Nigeria’s digital identity system depends on the integrity and security of the data it holds. In June 2024, unauthorized websites were illicitly selling sensitive personal data of Nigerian citizens, including the NIN.
There are also concerns around fraud. Earlier this year, reports emerged that over 6000 nationals from Niger Republic had been issued NINs. Such cases reveal critical loopholes in identity verification protocols and suggest that further efforts are needed to strengthen identity fraud detection and cross-checking mechanisms.
Public trust is essential for the success of any digital ID program. Indeed, there has been public backlash in countries such as Kenya around the data protection safeguards of its digital ID program, the Huduma Namba, which was challenged in court by digital rights groups over concerns regarding privacy and data protection risks. The rollout was subsequently suspended by the Kenyan High Court.
Nigeria must avoid the potential erosion of trust, which could undermine its own digital ID ambitions. Doing so requires the proper enforcement of its data privacy law, the Nigerian Data Protection Act. Security is the route to public trust, and public trust is the route to successful delivery.
Interoperability – the ability of computer systems or software to exchange and make use of information –is another key challenge for Nigeria. While the NIN’s integration with financial services and telecommunications has been relatively successful, with a 96% SIM-to-NIN linkage compliance rate as of August 2024, its adoption in other critical sectors such as healthcare, education, and social protection remains inconsistent and underdeveloped. An incomplete network is a less useful one.
What should happen next?
To move from momentum to meaningful outcomes, Nigeria must refocus its digital ID strategy around three core imperatives: inclusive access, integrity, and interoperability.
- Promote inclusive access. Bridging the rural-urban gap must be a priority. This includes deploying additional registration centers, especially in rural areas, and encouraging agents to work in those areas. Policymakers should also integrate local parties, such as traditional rulers and community leaders, to help drive awareness for the ID program.
- Strengthen integrity and public trust. Policymakers should prioritise combating cyber risks as a way to secure the credibility of Nigeria’s digital ID system. This requires the proper enforcement of the Nigerian Data Protection Act, as well as a continued focus on strengthening identity fraud detection and cross-checking mechanisms.
- Advance interoperability and service delivery. Nigerian policymakers should make the NIN the most reliable source of identity across government and private platforms. This must extend to sectors such as healthcare, education, and social protection. This will require aligning databases, ensuring real-time data exchange, and establishing clear protocols for identity verification across sectors. Greater interoperability could also enhance efficiency in public service delivery and open up new avenues for innovation in fintech, health-tech, and education services.
In March 2025, Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Framework was launched, anchored on three pillars: digital identity, digital payments, and data exchange. The framework could provide a foundation for interoperability across public and private platforms through structures like the Nigerian Data Exchange (NgDX) and the Nigerian Digital Public Infrastructure Centre (NgDPIC). This is promising progress.
The success of Nigeria’s digital identity program has the potential to unlock broader developmental goals such as financial inclusion and improved service delivery in sectors like healthcare, education, and social safety programs. However, for this to work, there will need to be coordinated policy action across sectors, continuous investment in secure and scalable digital infrastructure, and sustained stakeholder engagement. Only through this integrated approach will Nigeria be able to create an identity system that supports its digital economy ambitions and leaves no one behind.
This article is part of a series produced in collaboration with the International Centre for Tax and Development at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), UK, exploring the role of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in strengthening state capacity and fostering development. We welcome contributions to this series.