$196m NIN funds unspent, FG seeks extension

The Federal Government has requested a 12-month extension for Nigeria's $430 million digital identity project, as $196 million of its financing remains unspent and the National Identification Number (NIN) issuance is lagging behind the target by 59 million. This proposal was included in a World Bank restructuring paper dated October 22, 2026, obtained by The PUNCH from the bank's website.

The extension would push the project's completion date from December 31, 2026, to December 31, 2027, marking the third extension since the project's Board Approval in February 2020. The original timeline called for the project to close in June 2024, but it has undergone two previous extensions. As of September 30, 2026, 121 million people had received NINs, falling short of the 180 million target, with a gap of 59 million.

To meet the target, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) would need to increase its monthly enrolment rate by 160 percent, from an average of 1.5 million to 3.9 million.

The project's financing comprises $115 million from the World Bank's International Development Association, $100 million from the French Development Agency, and $215 million from the European Investment Bank, totaling $234 million in disbursements, representing 54.4 percent of the project's financing. The World Bank's restructuring seeks to address the slow progress in NIN issuance and the need to replace NIMC's existing technology with the National Identity Management System 2.0, a new open-source system aimed at improving capacity, interoperability, and data protection.