Nigeria’s ambitious push to build a single national digital identity system is facing growing questions after fresh evidence showed that millions of citizens still struggle with repeated registrations, conflicting personal records and costly data correction processes despite official claims that the country’s databases have been unified.
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) insists the National Identification Number (NIN) has become Nigeria’s master identity, linking records across key government institutions and private organisations. According to NIMC Director-General Abisoye Coker-Odusote, agencies responsible for immigration, taxation, healthcare, education, aviation, security and social intervention programmes now rely on the NIN as the country’s common identity platform, while banks, telecommunications companies, insurance firms and fintech operators authenticate customers through NIMC’s real-time verification system.
She explained that sector-specific identifiers such as the Bank Verification Number (BVN) remain in use for specialised services, but the NIN now serves as the primary identity accepted across all sectors.
However, everyday experiences shared by many Nigerians suggest the country’s digital identity transformation is still far from complete.
Citizens continue to report being asked to fill out lengthy forms whenever they open bank accounts, renew passports, process driver’s licences or apply for government services, even after presenting their National Identification Number. Instead of enjoying seamless access to services, many still provide the same personal information repeatedly, raising concerns that several institutions have yet to fully integrate with the national identity infrastructure.
Technology experts say the issue is not that Nigeria lacks a digital identity platform, but that many organisations are still operating independent registration systems while using the NIN only for identity confirmation rather than fully retrieving verified records from the national database.
One Lagos resident, David Omobola, said he recently opened a bank account expecting the process to be much faster because he already possessed a National Identification Number. Instead, he was required to complete forms containing information that should already have been available through the national identity system.
His experience reflects what many Nigerians describe as the biggest weakness of the current system: the infrastructure exists, but full implementation remains inconsistent across institutions.
For business owner Mercy Obadare, the challenge went beyond repeated registration. She discovered that her date of birth on her NIN differed from the one on her international passport, forcing her into a lengthy correction process that lasted several months.
She said repeated server failures delayed the process before authorities eventually resumed data revalidation. By the time the corrections were completed, she had spent more than ₦80,000, while the error also affected her Permanent Voter’s Card because the records no longer matched.
Experts warn that although linking databases can improve efficiency, inaccurate records can create widespread complications when multiple government services depend on the same identity information.
Industry stakeholders acknowledge that Nigeria has made significant progress by establishing the NIN as the country’s foundational digital identity. However, they argue that the true measure of success will only come when citizens no longer have to repeatedly submit the same information or endure expensive corrections to resolve data inconsistencies.
As Africa’s most populous nation accelerates its digital transformation agenda, the gap between government promises and the daily experiences of ordinary Nigerians continues to raise important questions about whether the country’s identity revolution has truly reached the people it was designed to serve.
