INEC, NIMC Partner to Strengthen Voter Registration with Digital Identity

 The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has entered into a strategic partnership with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to harmonise identity management with voter registration across Nigeria.

Speaking at the INEC headquarters in Abuja during a courtesy visit by NIMC’s Director-General, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, commended the collaboration between the two agencies. He noted that both institutions manage Nigeria’s largest biometric databases—INEC for elections and NIMC for general citizenship records—and that their partnership could transform the electoral process.

The collaboration was announced in a joint statement shared on NIMC’s official X handle.

“DG/CEO, NIMC, Engr. (Dr) Abisoye Coker-Odusote, alongside the management team, held a joint press conference with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), led by its Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, on the collaboration between the two agencies on the use of a credible digital identity token (National Identification Number, NIN) to strengthen the nation’s electoral system,” the statement read.

It added: “The Joint press conference centred on the collaboration between the two strategic agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria, towards strengthening Nigeria’s electoral process, in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.”

Coker-Odusote described the alliance as a “strategic partnership for national progress,” stressing that the integration of NIMC’s National Identification Number (NIN) into future Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) would guarantee that every eligible voter is uniquely and verifiably identified.

“Consequently, NIMC is committed to providing INEC with secure, up-to-date, verifiable identity data for voter verification and ensuring data privacy and protection in line with national laws and global best practices,” she said.