The Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Abisoye Coker-Odusote, has announced the commission's enhanced authority to arrest and prosecute identity thieves under the newly enacted NIMC Act 2026. Speaking during a courtesy visit to the Federal Ministry of Information and the National Orientation Agency (NOA), she stated the law strengthens Nigeria's digital identity framework by closing data protection gaps present in the repealed Act. The 2023 Data Protection Act, which led to the creation of the Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC), was developed with NIMC's support in 2021, according to Coker-Odusote.
She disclosed that the NIMC has restructured its internal enforcement mechanism through the Inspectorate, Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) Unit to implement the new mandate effectively. The commission has also launched a ward enrolment programme, initiated on February 16, aimed at registering Nigerians in all 8,009 wards nationwide. This exercise follows a directive from President Bola Tinubu last year and aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda. Coker-Odusote emphasized the importance of partnership with NOA, noting its presence at the ward level aids public sensitisation.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, welcomed the initiative and pledged the full support of his ministry's platforms, including the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), for public enlightenment. He stressed the need for inter-agency collaboration and widespread grassroots awareness to ensure the Act's success. Also present, NOA Director-General Lanre Issa-Onilu affirmed existing collaboration with NIMC and reiterated readiness to support outreach efforts. He encouraged NIMC to leverage NOA's nationwide network for effective dissemination of information.
The same NIMC leadership now enforcing identity laws once operated under a legal framework it admitted had no data protection powers. Coker-Odusote's push for nationwide ward enrolment depends on agencies like NOA to reach citizens the commission cannot reach alone. If public trust in digital identity hinges on enforcement and access, both are being built years after the system was already rolled out. The new Act corrects past gaps, but millions were enrolled before those fixes existed.
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