In a major step towards streamlining citizen identification, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have agreed to deepen their collaboration, allowing Nigerians to register to vote and for their National Identification Number (NIN) simultaneously at designated centres.
The partnership was formalised during a visit by the NIMC Director-General, Engineer Dr. Abisola Kukar, and her delegation to the INEC headquarters in Abuja. The delegation was received by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, and his team of National Commissioners and directors.
In his welcoming address, Prof. Yakubu hailed the collaboration as a confirmation of the “institutional memory” between the two agencies, which together hold the largest biometric databases of citizens in Nigeria. He outlined a long-term vision where the NIMC’s database would serve as the “single source of truth for citizenship identification,” from which the national voter register could be drawn.
“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,” Yakubu stated. “This may also enable citizens to vote in future elections from their places of choice anywhere in the country, rather than the place they registered as voters as is the case at present.”
As an immediate step, officials from the NIMC will be deployed to some INEC voter registration centres across the country. This initiative, building on a successful pilot programme in Anambra State in July 2022, is designed to capture citizens who have not yet enrolled for a NIN during the electoral registration process.
“Citizens will therefore have the opportunity to register as voters while simultaneously registering for the NIN where they have not registered before,” Yakubu explained, adding that the NIMC would soon release details of the locations and modalities for the joint registration.
