From David Onuoja, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has said that, INEC and National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), have the largest biometric databases of citizens in Nigeria.
Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, stated this while receiving the Director General of NIMC and its Management team at the INEC headquarters, Maitama Abuja, Wednesday afternoon.
According to Yakubu, “As is well known, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), holds the database of citizens for the purpose of elections while NIMC has the record of citizens generally. Together, our two agencies hold the largest biometric databases of citizens in Nigeria.
“I am particularly glad that the Director General is accompanied by her management team many of whom have the institutional memory of the long-standing collaboration between our two agencies.
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“Under the leadership of the current Director General, we have engaged at different times with the intention of solidifying our partnership in the area of identity management. As is well known, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) holds the database of citizens for the purpose of elections while NIMC has the record of citizens generally. Together, our two agencies hold the largest biometric databases of citizens in Nigeria.
“Since the ultimate goal is to enroll every citizen with NIMC, we look forward to the day when your database will serve as the single source of truth for citizenship identification in Nigeria. When the time comes, the national register of voters may simply draw from the citizenship register as is the case in many jurisdictions around the world.
“This may also enable citizens to vote in future elections from their places of choice anywhere in the country rather than the places they register as voters as is the case at present. To achieve this long-term goal, we will continue to deepen our collaboration with NIMC.
“It is in furtherance of this collaboration that NIMC is deploying its officials to some of our registration centres during the ongoing nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR). The idea is to provide more Nigerians who are yet to enroll for the National Identification Number (NIN), the opportunity to do so.
“Working with NIMC, we carried out a pilot during the recent CVR in Anambra State from 8th to 20th July 2025. We are now set to scale it up nationwide. Citizens will therefore have the opportunity to register as voters while simultaneously registering for the NIN.
“In due course, NIMC will provide details of the locations of our CVR centres where it will deploy its officials and also provide the modalities for the NIN registration. We welcome this partnership with NIMC which is in keeping with our commitment to synergize with every national institution to strengthen electoral activities in Nigeria”, he averred.
On her part, the Director General of NIMC, Engr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote, reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to harmonising identity data across government institutions in line with its mandate while emphasised that integration with INEC is central to the credibility of elections.
“Our goal is to provide a trusted identity system that supports credible elections. That is why we are working closely with INEC, particularly during the voter registration exercise, to ensure citizens at the community level have access to both NIN enrollment and voter registration”, she said.
She added that NIMC is currently working with over 14 statutory agencies but considers its relationship with INEC to be one of the most critical, given the importance of credible elections to Nigeria’s democracy.
Both organisations pledged to continue working together to strengthen the integrity of identity management and electoral processes in Nigeria.
