Nigeria’s Nationwide Id Control Fee (NIMC) says its nationwide id database is hosted solely in Nigeria and controlled through its personal workers, as virtual id verification turns into an increasing number of essential to public services and products.
Alvan Ikoku, director of NIMC’s Strategic Programme Administrative center, disclosed this all over a briefing with newshounds on Wednesday, addressing considerations about the place Nigerians’ id knowledge is saved, who controls the infrastructure, and the way the fee protects it from leaks.
“It’s being controlled through Nigerians, now not Nigerian distributors, through NIMC workers,” Ikoku mentioned. He maintained that NIMC hasn’t ever hosted its id knowledge out of doors the rustic, does now not use cloud internet hosting for its core database, and has crisis restoration programs to stay services and products operating when programs fail.
The feedback come as knowledge localisation an increasing number of dominates conversations in Nigeria about keep an eye on over electorate’ non-public data. Retaining knowledge inside nationwide borders addresses the place it’s saved, however protective it calls for efficient controls over who can get entry to it and responsibility when it’s misused.
142 million Nigerians have registered for Nationwide Identity Numbers as of September 2026, consistent with NIMC. A breach may disclose hundreds of thousands’ non-public knowledge, whilst an outage may disrupt crucial services and products. Native internet hosting on my own can not ensure safety; tight get entry to controls, tracking, and responsibility for misuse also are important.
Ikoku mentioned NIMC maintains its core database internally and topics workers, in particular the ones liable for database control, to ongoing scrutiny through safety businesses. He added that workforce may face prison penalties for misconduct.
Retaining the central database underneath inner keep an eye on does now not imply NIMC controls each level wherein id knowledge is accessed. Licenced companions and hooked up executive businesses additionally play a task in turning in verification services and products, developing further issues the place get entry to to non-public data should be controlled and secured.
Earlier safety considerations have centred on get entry to thru verification channels, somewhat than a showed compromise of the central database. In March 2024, reports about XpressVerify, a web site providing Nigerians’ id data, raised questions on how the platform got get entry to.
NIMC prior to now said XpressVerify used to be now not a licenced spouse and ordered an investigation into whether or not accredited verification brokers or their sublicensees had breached their licensing agreements. The Nigeria Knowledge Coverage Fee later said NIMC had suspended database get entry to ahead of restoring restricted get entry to to establishments offering crucial public services and products.
The episode highlights a key difference between knowledge residency and get entry to governance. Storing id data on infrastructure inside Nigeria does now not, by itself, save you publicity thru organisations accredited to request verification.
That possibility grows as extra establishments connect with the id gadget. Ikoku mentioned about 63 executive businesses had built-in with NIMC, together with organisations interested by examinations, scholar finance, client credit score and medical health insurance.
“It’s something to be in a position to combine with an company,” Ikoku mentioned. “All we want to do is to supply the applying programme interface, which they’d use. However what I’ve additionally came upon operating in this harmonisation mission is that a few of them have now not attained—must I name it—the adulthood point, the virtual adulthood point, with the intention to also have that handshake relating to integration.”
For businesses whose programs are in a position, connecting thru NIMC’s software programming interface (API) can take about 72 hours, Ikoku mentioned. Harmonising data and programs, on the other hand, calls for extra customised paintings.
Ikoku mentioned the 2026 NIMC Act calls for compliance with the Nigeria Knowledge Coverage Act and units stipulations for disclosing registered individuals’ data. Those come with consent, prison duties, public-interest purposes, felony investigations and courtroom lawsuits.
He mentioned NIMC’s position is to authenticate identities, now not retain the explanations in the back of verification requests made through different organisations.
“The fee is meant to coordinate authentication and verification, however the authentication that the fee must make is also coming from every other entity,” Ikoku mentioned. “It isn’t the fee’s trade to retain the cause of that request or for that authentication. The fee is not going to do this. Neither will its brokers or assignees do this in any respect.”
Ikoku mentioned customers may arrange and withdraw consent thru NIMC’s authentication software, matter to prison exceptions. Then again, the briefing equipped no utilization figures or demonstration of ways electorate may take a look at get entry to data, problem misuse or record lawsuits.
NIMC may be creating frameworks for virtual credentials, certificate and signatures because it modernises its id infrastructure, Ikoku mentioned. The technical requirements, governance preparations and implementation laws are nonetheless being evolved.
The rush to stay delicate knowledge in Nigeria extends past id control. In June 2026, the Central Financial institution of Nigeria directed banks and fee corporations to retailer and arrange fee transaction knowledge generated within the nation in the community through January 1, 2027. The federal government’s National Sovereign Cloud Initiative, formalised in August, in a similar way targets to enlarge native cloud infrastructure.
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