The World Bank said 59 million Nigerians have yet to get their National Identification Numbers (NINs), amid fears that enrolment agents hired by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) have not been paid since January 2026.
The warning is in the World Bank’s October 2026 restructuring report on Nigeria’s Digital Identification for Development (ID4D) project, which cited delayed payments to Front-End Partners (FEPs) as a key operational challenge to the country’s target of registering 180 million people.
As of September 30, 2026, the study showed that only over 121 million Nigerians have gotten their NINs, leaving a shortfall of nearly 59 million registrations.
The bank said the resolution of the overdue payments was critical to support the enrolment program and keep the registration partners active in the nationwide exercise.
It recommended NIMC to upgrade its billing system to generate audited payment reports that would aid the prompt payment of fees due to the enrolling partners.
The partners have not received any payments since January 2026, the report added, describing the problem as “urgent.”
Apart from the due fees, the World Bank has identified six other key issues which NIMC must solve to successfully fast-track enrolment to meet the 180 million objective.
This includes the activation of a Learning Management System (LMS) to train and certify enrolment agents, deployment of 7,000 mobile registration devices and extension of NIN enrolment to schools and underprivileged communities.
The bank has set October 31, 2026, as the deadline to make the learning platform operational while the rollout of the 7,000 devices with activated enrolment modules is scheduled by January 2027.
The analysis also showed that NIMC would have to raise its average monthly registration rate from 1.5 million to 3.9 million to fulfil the national target.
The project, which was initiated in March 2026, saw the generation of 10 million new NINs, according to the September assessment, but the registration velocity is not up to the mark.
NIMC has also licensed some 365 Front-End Partners including mobile network companies to extend registration coverage across the country.
Other suggested initiatives include working with the Ministry of Education to initiate school-based registration by December 2026, working with local governments in low enrolment communities and working with social assistance and health organisations to target disadvantaged people.
The recent revelation follows the announcement by NIMC in December 2024 that it had settled outstanding payments owing to enrolling partners for services given between 2021 and 2024.
The commission noted at the time that the earlier arrears had been cleared following a revalidation effort funded by the ID4D initiative and the World Bank.
The new payment troubles raise worries about the viability of Nigeria’s statewide digital identification rollout as the country looks to enrolll millions of residents yet to get their NINs.
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