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FEC Approves Implementation of Strategic Roadmap for Digital Identity Ecosystem

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the immediate commencement of the implementation of a strategic roadmap for a new Digital Identity Ecosystem in Nigeria.
FEC at its meeting, held on Wednesday September 13, 2018 and chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, opened a new chapter in giving Nigeria a credible and robust identity management system with the approval of the new identity ecosystem strategy for the enrolment of Nigerians and legal residents into the National Identity Database (NIDB).
The FEC approval of the new Digital Identity Ecosystem will bring into full force the implementation of the provisions of the NIMC Act 23, 2007, which include the enforcement of the mandatory use of the National Identification Number (NIN) and the application of appropriate sanctions and penalties on defaulters as provided under Section 28 of the NIMC Act.
The new digital identity Ecosystem is a framework that leverages on the existing capabilities and infrastructure of distinct government agencies and private sector organisations to carry out enrolment of Citizens and Legal residents nationwide as well as issuance of Digital identity, known as the National Identity Number (NIN).
Speaking on the strategic roadmap for a new Digital Identity Ecosystem for Nigeria approved by the Federal Executive Council, Director-General of NIMC, Engr. Aliyu Abubakar Aziz, explained that the step falls in line with the Federal Government’s efforts to reposition the country as a leader in the global economy, which resulted in the launch of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) in April 2017.
A major outcome of the FEC’s approval of the strategic roadmap for the new digital identity ecosystem is the mandatory enforcement of the use of NIN, which NIMC has announced to come into full force on January 1, 2019.
According to Engr. Aziz, the ERGP is designed “as an omnibus strategy for the government to meet the critical needs of the citizenry in areas such as food security, energy, transport, human capital development, but more critically developing a local digital economy.”
Identification, the D-G of NIMC explained, “is fundamental to the Federal Government achieving its new policy for the overall economic development of the country,” but regretted that “many Nigerians lack basic identification documents despite significant government efforts over the years.”
Explaining the powers of NIMC, under its Act, Engr. Aziz said: “NIMC is empowered to ensure strict compliance with the NIN requirement and can demand evidence of compliance from a person or entity; caution a non-compliant person or entity in writing; sanction a non-compliant person or entity by the imposition of administrative fines or institute criminal or civil actions against the non-complaint person or entity.”
Speaking further, he said Section 27 of the NIMC Act empowers the Commission to set a date for the enforcement of the use of the NIN for transactions listed in the Act and also to expand applicable transaction in a Regulation approved by the Attorney General of the Federation.
Consequently, Engr. Aziz said “the Commission shall from 1st January 2019 commence full enforcement of the mandatory use of the NIN and apply all applicable sanctions and penalties as provided under Section 28 of the NIMC Act against defaulters.”
NIMC, in a statement, further explained: “In the light of the above, the Commission as the regulator for the identity Sector in Nigeria hereby makes the following announcement to all agencies of government and the private sector who are directly or indirectly into the business of data capture and service provision requiring identification of persons as follows:
- The cut-off date for data eligible for harmonisation with the National Identity Database (NIDB) is 1st of December 2018. This means:
- Only data captured as at 30th November 2018 will be subjected to harmonisation as is currently on-going;
- Fresh data capture of persons shall be in compliance with the Provisions set out in the Nigeria Biometric Standards; Mandatory use of the NIN Regulations 2017 and guidelines issued by the Commission.
That is to say the capturing agency must request and verify the NIN before taking secondary demographic data of the person and where the person does not have a NIN, register such person (where it is licensed to do so) or refer such person to a NIN registration centre.
. Only licensed public or private agencies shall capture and transmit biometric to the NIDB;
- Only the NIMC, Nigeria Police Force and other related security agencies shall store biometric data;
- All service providers of transactions listed in the Mandatory Use of the NIN Regulation 2017 must either directly obtain a license or through any licensed verification & authentication agents carryout verification & authentication of persons requesting/eligible for such services with his/her NIN;
The statement added that “in the coming days, NIMC will advertise its request for Expression of Interest from interested applicants for the provision of selected services under the National Identity Management System (NIMS) program. This will commence the process of selection of the frontend partners for the implementation of the digital identity ecosystem.”
Engr. Aziz expressed gratitude to President Buhari and Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, as well as members of the FEC, NASS, the World Bank, the French development agency – AFD, the European Union/EIB and members of the Harmonisation Committee, including industry stakeholders “whose expertise and contributions fostered harmonious discussion and created the platform for the development of the roadmap.”
Giving a background to the evolution of the strategic roadmap for the new digital identity ecosystem in Nigeria now to be fully implemented, the NIMC statement explained:
“In December 2016, and with the assistance of the World Bank, a high-level Policy Roundtable with stakeholders on Identification was held in Abuja.
“The Roundtable highlighted the role of digitally-enabled identity in Nigeria’s economic and social development, and possible options and steps to developing identification in Nigeria.
“The Roundtable noted that preparing a strategic roadmap for Nigeria’s identity program is an important next step for the identity ecosystem in Nigeria and leveraging digital identity to develop and transform our nation.
“The focus of the ecosystem approach is to ensure every individual in Nigeria is given a unique identity number within the next 3 – 5 years. To this end there were extensive stakeholder consultations in 2017.
News
FG Unveils AI Public Services Platform

Federal government has launched GovGuideNigeria, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital platform designed to streamline access to public service information through WhatsApp and the web.

The platform consolidates information from more than 35 federal ministries and over 60 government agencies, marking a significant step in Nigeria’s drive to expand AI-enabled public infrastructure and digital government services.
According to Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s minister of communications, innovation and digital economy, the initiative aims to simplify interactions with government services, particularly for underserved communities that often face challenges navigating complex public-sector systems.
Developed in collaboration with the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Meta, and Publica AI, GovGuideNigeria uses conversational AI to provide real-time responses via WhatsApp and a web interface in English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
Sade Dada, head of public policy at Meta, said the multilingual rollout highlights the growing use of natural language processing within African public institutions to improve digital inclusion and broaden access to services.
Ignatius Willie, chief executive of Publica AI, said the platform demonstrates how Africa’s next generation of digital public infrastructure can be developed locally using African languages.
GovGuideNigeria is intended to address longstanding challenges in Nigeria’s public information system, where citizens often struggle to access reliable guidance because of fragmented government websites, poor communication channels and the expense of travelling to physical offices.
Through AI-driven automation, users can obtain information on immigration procedures, documentation requirements, public programmes and agency-specific services through chat-based interactions.
The launch also reflects Nigeria’s broader ambition to integrate AI into digital governance, while strengthening partnerships between government agencies, global technology companies and local AI startups to modernise public service delivery.
News
Elon Musk to Become First World’s Trillionaire with SpaceX Historic IPO

Elon Musk is poised to become the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX, his company, confirmed plans to go public.

Elon Musk
Because Musk owns the majority of the shares, it could push his net worth over the trillion dollar mark.
The entrepreneur is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X, and xAI.
Musk has been the wealthiest person in the world since 2025; as of May 2026, Forbes estimates his net worth to be $788 billion.
SpaceX has filed for a blockbuster public listing in the United States, paving the way for what could become the largest stock market debut in Wall Street history.
The company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, announced plans to begin trading under the ticker symbol “SPCX” as early as next month.
The listing values SpaceX at about $1.25 trillion, with Musk’s majority ownership potentially worth more than $600 billion alone.
Combined with his existing holdings in companies including Tesla, the IPO could push Musk’s personal wealth above the $1 trillion mark.
The long-awaited filing also offered investors a rare look into SpaceX’s finances.
The company reported $18.6 billion in revenue last year but recorded a net loss of $4.9 billion. In the first quarter of this year, SpaceX generated $4.7 billion in sales while posting a $4.3 billion net loss.
Financial disclosures showed the company holds $102 billion in assets, including rockets, launch infrastructure and satellite systems, while carrying debts totalling $60.5 billion.
Despite the losses, analysts suggested investors were unlikely to be deterred given SpaceX’s dominance in commercial space launches and satellite internet services.
Ruth Foxe-Blader, managing partner at Citrine Venture Partners, described the planned flotation as “extremely exciting.”
“SpaceX is just an absolutely sprawling, enormous project with so many different selling points, and so many points that really point to the future,” she said.
SpaceX operates the Starlink satellite internet network and also owns Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI.
The IPO filing revealed that xAI recently reached a major commercial agreement with rival AI company Anthropic, maker of the Claude chatbot.
Under the arrangement, Anthropic will reportedly pay $15 billion annually to access data centre infrastructure linked to xAI operations in the American South.
The filing also disclosed that SpaceX expects to incur more than half a billion dollars in legal costs from multiple ongoing lawsuits and regulatory disputes.
Among the cases listed were claims alleging that xAI’s chatbot Grok had been used to create sexualised deepfakes of women and girls, alongside patent infringement disputes, music copyright claims, data breach allegations and investigations into compliance with European Union content moderation rules.
Musk has previously said he plans to dissolve xAI as a standalone company and pursue his AI ambitions directly under SpaceX.
The filing came shortly after Musk lost a high-profile legal battle against OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman.
Musk had accused OpenAI of abandoning its non-profit mission after shifting towards a commercial model, but a jury dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that he had waited too long to bring the claims.
News
Moniepoint Boosts UK Payments Security

African financial services platform Moniepoint has partnered with open banking software-as-a-service provider tell.money to deploy a transaction security system in the UK market.

The companies said the partnership will allow Moniepoint to implement Confirmation of Payee, an account name-checking service designed to verify recipient details before payments are processed.
The integration will be rolled out through Monieworld, Moniepoint’s UK remittance subsidiary, as part of the company’s broader European expansion strategy.
Tell.money will provide the underlying verification technology, which the companies said is intended to reduce misdirected payments and help protect users against cross-border fraud.
Ravi Jakhodia, CEO of Monieworld, said: “Our goal with Monieworld is to build financial services for Africans in the diaspora.”
He added that tell.money was selected because it manages compliance and accreditation requirements, allowing the fintech company to focus on customer service.
Moniepoint is entering a competitive UK-to-Africa remittance market that includes established providers such as Wise, WorldRemit and Remitly, as well as African fintech firms including Flutterwave’s Send App.
According to data from the World Bank’s KNOMAD programme, remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries are estimated at about $620 billion annually, with digital -first platforms capturing increasing market share through open banking integrations and automated compliance systems.
The rollout reflects a broader trend of African fintech firms expanding into developed markets by adopting local regulatory and open banking standards.
Industry analysts expect diaspora-focused platforms to evolve beyond money transfers into services such as multi-currency banking, credit and investment products.
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