Abuja: The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) have intensified their partnership to harmonize data for citizen registration and identity management. The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, conveyed this development during a meeting with the NIMC Director-General, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, and her management team at the INEC headquarters.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Yakubu highlighted that this collaboration between the two agencies, which possess the largest biometric databases of Nigerians, could potentially enable citizens to vote from any location in the country in the future. He noted that while INEC maintains the database for electoral purposes, NIMC holds the general record of citizens. Yakubu expressed the vision of utilizing NIMC’s database as the definitive source for citizenship identification in Nigeria, which could streamline the voter registration process and allow for voting flexibility.
Yakubu further explained that NIMC’s collaboration with INEC aims to facilitate simultaneous registration for voter cards and the National Identification Number (NIN) during the ongoing nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR). He mentioned that NIMC officials are being deployed to select registration centers to provide more Nigerians with the opportunity to enroll for the NIN. A pilot project conducted in Anambra demonstrated the feasibility of this approach, and plans are underway to expand it nationwide.
In her remarks, Abisoye Coker-Odusote emphasized that this collaboration aligns with NIMC’s mandate to harmonize data across various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs). She stated that the initiative would create a trust-based system benefiting Nigerians, particularly in the voting process, and support transparency and accountability. This effort is in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritizes credible elections through a reliable identity system.
Coker-Odusote stressed the importance of providing trusted systems to satisfy Nigerians and fulfill NIMC’s mandate. She outlined the collaboration with INEC on the voter registration exercise as a vital step in advancing their objectives. Responding to inquiries about when Nigerians would have access to a single Identity Card for different purposes, she indicated that it remains a work in progress.