By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has revealed that enrollment for the National Identification Number (NIN) rose to 92.63 million as of November 28, 2022.
In the latest data released by the commission, a total of 1.95 million new NIN enrollments were in November, as the database grew by 2.2 per cent from the 90.68 million at the end of October.
In terms of gender distribution, the NIMC data revealed that 52.1 million people, representing 56 per cent of Nigerians so far captured in the NIN database, are male, while the remaining 40.5 million (44 per cent) are female.
According to the statistics, Lagos State has so far recorded the highest number of enrolments in the country, with 10.3 million Nigerians captured in the State. This was followed by Kano State, which recorded 8 million registered NIN.
Other states that made the top ten in terms of the number of enrolments include Kaduna with 5.4 million, Ogun with 3.8 million, Oyo with 3.6 million, FCT with 3.2 million, Katsina with 3.1 million, Rivers with 2.7 million, Delta with 2.4 million, and Bauchi also with 2.4 million NIN registrations.
The NIMC data shows that the ten states with the lowest NIN enrolments are Zamfara with 1.6 million total enrolments as of November, Akwa Ibom with 1.5 million, Imo with 1.5 million, Enugu with 1.5 million, Yobe with 1.3 million, Taraba with 1.3 million, Cross River with 1 million, Ekiti with 971,712, Ebonyi with 744,869, and Bayelsa with 583,323.
The commission had recently pledged to scale up enrolment and issuance of the unique National Identification Numbers (NIN) to Nigerians and legal residents, from 500,000 to 2.5 million records monthly in a renewed commitment towards the provision of Identity services to the nation.
Pursuant to Act No. 23 of 2007, amongst others, create and manage the National Identity Database, enrol citizens and legal residents and issue them a unique NIN, a general multipurpose card, as well as harmonize and integrate existing identification databases in government agencies into the National Identity Database.
Section 27(1) and (2) of the Act, 2007 also mandates all government and private agencies providing services as captured in the NIMC Act to make the NIN a prerequisite for service provision to Citizens and Legal residents.
The NIN not only affirms the identity of an individual, but it also avails the government necessary information needed for national planning, the creation of social intervention initiatives, tracking and monitoring crime, curb corruption nationwide, and other numerous benefits.
