President Bola Tinubu on Thursday reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to establishing a credible, secure, verifiable, and functional identity management system across all sectors, describing it as vital to Nigeria’s developmental objectives.
According to a statement by presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu made this known at the State House during the launch of the NINAuth App, a digital mobile-based identity authentication platform developed by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
He stated that his government is deploying technology to promote efficiency, transparency, and accountability in governance.
Tinubu further announced that all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) would soon adopt the new application for staff and data verification.
“Today’s official launch of the NIMC NINAuth App marks a significant milestone in Nigeria’s journey towards building Africa’s largest digital identity database,” Tinubu said. “This innovation demonstrates our shared ambition to achieve a digitally empowered Nigeria.
“Under the Renewed Hope Agenda, my administration is dedicated to modernising digital infrastructure to eliminate bureaucratic delays and ensure that every Nigerian, irrespective of background or location, can access essential services seamlessly.”
The President explained that the new application would position Nigeria alongside the world’s most technologically advanced nations by enabling secure and inclusive access to services, opportunities, and benefits while upholding high standards of data protection and national security.
“This initiative simplifies access, reduces bureaucratic bottlenecks, and closes gaps where inefficiency and corruption can thrive,” Tinubu said. “A credible and inclusive National Identity Management System underpins our development agenda by promoting financial inclusion, strengthening social welfare delivery, enhancing national security, and ensuring accurate population data for evidence-based planning.”
Tinubu noted that with NINAuth, all citizens and legal residents would benefit from a unified National Identity Database that supports social programmes, strengthens electoral integrity, improves healthcare access, and ensures fair distribution of national resources.
He urged Nigerians to embrace the new application and commended NIMC for transforming identity management from a cumbersome bureaucratic process into a dynamic, technology-driven system aligned with global standards.
“My fellow Nigerians, the future we seek is one where technology empowers every citizen and where trust in governance is anchored on efficiency, transparency, and inclusiveness. The launch of this application is proof that our promises are taking shape through reforms that tangibly improve everyday life,” he said.
“Let us all embrace this new era. Let us use this innovation responsibly and ensure it serves as a bridge connecting our people, institutions, and aspirations for a more prosperous nation. Together, we are building a country where every identity counts and every citizen matters.”
Earlier, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, highlighted the significance of a secure national identity to Nigeria’s development, commending President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for tackling security and administrative challenges through improved identity management.
“Your Excellency, you are solving tomorrow’s problems today through technology,” Tunji-Ojo said. “Every nation aspiring to efficiency must first build systems that identify, authenticate, and secure its citizens. Identity is not merely administrative; it is the foundation of governance, national security, and service delivery.”
The Director-General of NIMC, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, explained that the NINAuth App would prevent individuals from possessing multiple data records while providing real-time authentication for businesses and services.
“It is vital for every business—whether small, medium, or large—to have access to verifiable identity credentials for every citizen, and the same applies to government institutions,” she stated.
Coker-Odusote added that NIMC had enrolled 126,717,316 individuals so far, with around 25 million of those recorded in the past two years, averaging 1.3 million verification hits daily.