The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) will commence nationwide ward-level enrollment for the National Identification Number (NIN) on February 16, 2026, in a major push to take identity registration to Nigeria’s grassroots.
The Commission disclosed this in a statement signed by Kayode Adegoke, its Head of Communications, on Wednesday.
According to NIMC, the exercise follows a presidential directive mandating the Commission to decentralise NIN registration and expand coverage to communities across the country.
The ward-level enrollment, which will be conducted free of charge, aims to ensure that every Nigerian citizen and legal resident, including children and adults, is captured in the National Identity Database.
Describing the initiative as a strategic move toward deeper identity inclusion, NIMC said: “The ward-level enrolment initiative represents a strategic step towards deepening identity inclusion, decentralizing services, and bringing registration to the ward level (communities), thereby improving accessibility, reducing travel burden, and promoting nationwide participation.”
The Commission urged Nigerians and legal residents who are yet to enroll to take advantage of the opportunity and participate fully in the exercise.
To ensure a smooth rollout, NIMC said consultations and sensitisation campaigns have commenced at national, state, and local government levels.
The Commission is engaging state governments, local government chairpersons, traditional rulers, community leaders, market associations, and faith-based organisations to drive awareness and mobilise residents.
It also called on families to ensure that children and other household members who have not enrolled are registered within their communities.
The ward-level rollout comes under Nigeria’s Digital Identity for National Development (ID4D) project, launched in 2020 with support from the World Bank.
Nigeria missed the initial June 30, 2024 deadline to capture at least 148 million citizens. As a result, the World Bank restructured and extended the $430 million project, co-financed by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), to December 31, 2026.
With an estimated population of 230 million, Nigeria had issued 123.9 million NINs as of October 2025, up from 114 million at the end of 2024, indicating that 9.9 million new enrollments were recorded in the first 10 months of 2025.
Under the revised ID4D target, NIMC is expected to register 180 million Nigerians by the end of 2026.
The ward-level strategy could significantly accelerate enrollment by reducing travel costs, long queues, and accessibility barriers that have slowed progress in rural and underserved areas.
If effectively implemented, the initiative may prove decisive in helping Nigeria meet its revised digital identity target and unlock full funding under the ID4D programme.
