E-Business
NIN is by Law Mandatory Means of Identification – Aziz
As the issue of digital identity takes centre stage in Nigeria, the Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Engr. Aliyu Aziz, fielded questions from journalists on the journey so far in enrolling Nigerians and issuing the National Identification Number (NIN), and the way forward. Excerpts:
What is your agenda and areas of focus for your second tenure?
The mandate of NIMC hasn’t changed and my focus remains to ensure that every person is enroled and issued a unique national identification Number (NIN) also known as a digital identity.
We have a population of about 200 million and the commission’s target is to register all within the next 3-5 years. Whilst pursuing this target, the commission would also work to expand, extend and strengthen the infrastructure that is enabling the enrolment and identity authentication to happen.
What specific achievements and challenges faced during your first tenure? What plans do you have to record more achievements and address those challenges you encountered?
One of our greatest achievements was increasing the enrolment figures from 7 million in 2015 to 39 million by the end 2019. As at today, we have reached 41 million records by sheer determination and hard work. I owe all of this to the great staff of NIMC who pushed themselves beyond their limits to see this happen.
The challenges we are facing are still the same challenges the Commission has been facing for years. Power issues at our Enrolment Centres (ERCs), Sensitization and awareness to the general public, inadequate enrolment centres and enrolment devices, maintenance and support of our IT infrastructure, consumables etc.
All of these issues affect our operations and require a lot of funding to address. We will continue to do our best to address them in consultation with all the relevant stakeholders, Government and with the help of the media.
How prepared are government and NIMC to meet the demand for enrollment for the National Identification Number nationwide?
Government and NIMC have made significant stride to scale up enrolment for the issuance of NIN.
In September 2018, The Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a strategic roadmap for accelerating the development of digital identity in Nigeria using the ecosystem approach (leveraging the capabilities and facilities of public and private sectors to speed up enrollment.
Government has also got commitment and approval from three development partners – the World Bank, Agence Francaise de Development (AFD) and the European Union (EU) – to fund the roadmap implementation in the tune of $433 million. You can obtain a copy of the roadmap on the NIMC website.
The project preparation is currently ongoing and full implementation was originally scheduled to kick start by June 2020, but with the COVID 19 pandemic, we may extend to September or December this year. Our target is to have at least 4000 enrolment centres across the nation: one enrolment centre per 50,000 people.
What is your advice to Nigerians on enrolling for the NIN?
The Federal Government has approved NIN as the only valid means of identification for government services by Law. As a foundational ID, everyone must register and obtain a NIN. Kindly do so to avoid any restrictions on use or access to government services in the future.
The process takes less than 10 minutes and can be further reduced if you pre-enrol online. Visit www.nimc.gov.ng for more details on enrolment. The law provides punitive measures for those who fail to comply with or disregard the law.
NIMC is collaborating with a number of government institutions including JAMB and other examination bodies, which are making the NIN a prerequisite for registration for their respective examinations. What plans do you have in place to enrol eligible and intending candidates in time for those examinations?
With NIN as the valid means of ID for government services, it is the responsibility of every individual on the soil of Nigeria or of Nigerian descent to register and obtain the unique ID. Enrolment commenced since the year 2012, which is 8 years ago; and the NIN is issued instantly upon complete registration.
Eight years is enough time for people to present themselves for registration in accordance with the NIMC Act. We should not always wait for the last minute or for government to resort to aggressive enforcement and punitive measures for people to do the right things. NIN is issued free of charge and to everyone, children and adult alike. Do not wait to be told you cannot transact or access service to register.
You recently raised concern about poor funding of NIMC programmes by the Federal Government. Has the funding situation improved, given the apparent increased pressure on NIMC to enrol Nigerians for the NIN?
NIMC through the Federal Government has obtained funding to accelerate digital identity enrolment within the next 3-5 years. The funding covers digital ID enrolment, issuance and usage; Strengthening the enabling law, security, privacy, data protection and cybersecurity mechanisms; as well as strengthening the IT and other back-end infrastructure.
There is still need for funding on the card aspect of the programme as well as on the other regulatory functions of the commission. We are consulting with the Federal Government on these aspects.
What will you say is the rationale behind the Federal Government making the NIN compulsory for government services?
The NIMC Act of 2007 which is the legal framework on which the Commission is operating stipulated that the National Identification Number is a unique identifier for all citizens and legal residents; and must be presented and verified to confirm your identity before other functional agencies can provide service.
This is the law and Government is simply reminding us to comply and working to ensure the enforcement of the provisions of the law. It is not a new thing or new policy. Please feel free to read the NIMC Act and in particular sections 26, 27, 28 etc.
You have explained a number of times that NIMC’s focus now is the enrolment and issuance of the NIN. At what time do you think the National eID card could be issued to those that enrolled?
The Commission is currently issuing the National ID card but on a low scale due to the capacity of the card personalisation bureau deployed to pilot the scheme in 2014. We are still working out strategies to scale up the card production and issuance with the help of the Government and in future with the private sector.
NIN is your identity and is sufficient to prove or assert your identity anytime, anywhere. The Commission is also aware of the demand by the public for the physical token (ID card) for a number of valid reasons. Please bear with us as we do what is necessary to issue this card to those who are in need of it. Also, NIMC is modifying the NIN credential to address the physical token request. All these new initiatives are in the works and would be released soon.
Many Nigerians who have the eID cards seem to have difficulty on how to use the card for financial transactions. How can the card be used for financial transactions and what are the security features in the card?
The Payment applet on the card is usually activated before the card is issued to the rightful owner for use. The card carrier contains the information on the use of the card for financial transactions. In a simple term, the card functions as a debit card (with virtual account) where money can be loaded and used on Point-of-Sales (POS), Automated Teller Machine (ATM) and other payment channels including the web.
The card has 18 security features and has been ranked as one of the most secured National ID cards in the world. Some of the security features can be seen with the eyes (ghost image, hologram, coat or arms, etc), while others require some special tools and light to see.
There was a recent news item on a court order stopping activities related to Nigeria’s national identity card system. What can you tell us about that and how is it being resolved?
The court case you are referring to is between Chams PLC and MasterCard. Unfortunately, NIMC was included as a Co-defendant and that affected some of our card operations. Because it is still an ongoing court case; therefore, I will not be making any further comments on the matter. We will await the outcome of the court proceedings and ruling.
How are you repositioning NIMC to increase awareness creation to sensitize Nigerians about the importance of the National Identification Number (NIN)?
Nigeria is a big country with a huge population. Creating awareness and sensitizing about 200 million people is not an easy task and requires a lot of resources and logistics to achieve.
Even though we collaborate with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), National Orientation Agency (NOA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Voice of Nigeria (VON), and all other national media outlets and companies to enlighten the general public, we still need to do more.
As stakeholders in the ID sector, we need the support, partnership, cooperation and assistance of all media companies and outlets on this national assignment. The best repositioning is to start with our communities, local governments and regions to share the news and speak to the people in the language they best understand on the ID need and use. Let’s join hands to bring everyone on board.
NIMC has extended registration to Nigerians in the diaspora. How have those in the diaspora welcomed this and what is the level of diaspora enrollment so far?
Diaspora enrolment was greatly received by the Nigerians in other countries and it has been going well since the launch. Enrolment is happening in over 15 countries across the world, with more countries to come on board in the near future. We are optimistic that more Nigerians will turn up to obtain the NIN; since it is a requirement for the application of a new and renewal of an expired Nigerian passport.
NIMC, in collaboration with the Federal Government declared 16 September as National Identity Day. What is its significance to the Nigerian society on a global perspective?
Nigeria formally launched and celebrated as the first country in the world to adopt and declare 16 September as International Identity Day. The event is a culmination of an enormous collective effort, which began in April 2018 when our country Nigeria successfully hosted the 4TH Annual Meeting of the ID4Africa Movement here in Abuja and joined a global coalition for recognition of September 16th each year as International Identity Day.
That call was embraced with tremendous support and over 1500 individual signatures endorsing the proposition were collected from delegates which cut across 81 countries, including 41 African nations. The endorsement represented nearly 99% of the participants that attended the Conference in Nigeria.
To formalize Nigeria’s membership of the global coalition, the National Identity Management Commission, sought and obtained approval from the Federal Government through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Providing legal identity to all including birth registration is one of the global SDGs target, specifically SDG 16.9; and Nigeria is endorsing and supporting this achievement by declaring 16 September each year as National Identity Day as a way to create the awareness and get the buy in required.
E-Business
Organizations Face New Attacks via Unpatched TrueConf Videoconferencing Servers, Kaspersky Warns
Kaspersky has discovered a new multi-stage attack by the Head Mare APT group against organisations with PhantomCore and PhantomGraph backdoors. To deliver these backdoors, the attackers exploit vulnerabilities in unpatched TrueConf videoconferencing servers and can also replace TrueConf client installers with infected ones.
Kaspersky reported the attacks to the vendor; the vulnerabilities were fixed in the latest TrueConf Server update on June 18, 2026 (versions 5.3.9, 5.4.9, and 5.5.5).
To compromise the TrueConf server, attackers exploited a combination of two vulnerabilities (assigned internal Kaspersky identifiers are KLCERT-26-057 and KLCERT-26-058), which allowed the attackers to execute any code with maximum privileges. By exploiting these vulnerabilities, they replaced one of the server’s files with their own web shell.
The attackers then used this shell to collect information about the victim organisation’s IT infrastructure, gain privileged access to the TrueConf server database, and replace the client installer with an infected one. The attack applies to TrueConf servers in versions 5.3.X prior to 5.3.9, 5.4.X prior to 5.4.9, 5.5.X prior to 5.5.5, and earlier.
For users of TrueConf software, the attack looks like this: video conference participants connecting to the compromised server are prompted to download and install an “updated version” of the client application. In reality, as a result of this, malware gets onto the device.
“Exploiting vulnerabilities in popular services is one of the most common methods used by attackers. This campaign is particularly dangerous because it puts at risk not only organisations using unpatched TrueConf servers.
“Even if a company doesn’t use this solution, its employees can connect to compromised servers at the invitation of their counterparties to participate in online meetings. As a result, they may unknowingly download infected installation packages, creating the potential for compromising a large number of enterprises across different countries,” comments Evgeny Goncharov, Head of Kaspersky ICS CERT.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Iran-Israel conflict, and the controversy involving social media activist VeryDarkMan and businessman Blord dominated Google searches by Nigerians between January and July.
This is contained in a review of anonymised Google Trends data released on Friday, which ranked the major stories that generated the highest search interest in Nigeria during the period.
The World Cup recorded the highest search volume, with Nigerians following the Super Eagles’ campaign, major matches, entertainment performances and developments throughout the tournament.
The data showed that searches around the tournament far exceeded those recorded for other major events during the seven-month period.
The Super Eagles’ AFCON semi-final defeat to Morocco also generated significant search interest, with “Nigeria vs Morocco” among the leading individual searches.
Senegal eventually won the AFCON title after defeating Morocco in the final on Jan. 18.
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy, also attracted substantial interest from Nigerians in February, including searches around ice hockey and other events.
Google Trends data further showed increased searches around Iran and the Strait of Hormuz following the escalation of tensions in the Middle East.
Searches including “Iran news,” “Israel Iran war” and “Strait of Hormuz meaning” featured prominently as Nigerians sought information on the conflict and its possible impact on global oil prices.
The Strait of Hormuz is a major global oil transit route, carrying about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.
The controversy involving cryptocurrency entrepreneur Blord and social media activist VeryDarkMan also maintained strong search interest for several months.
The saga peaked around Blord’s arrest and subsequent remand in Kuje prison in April, followed by his release on bail 16 days later.
Searches for “Who is Blord” also featured prominently, indicating growing interest among Nigerians seeking background information on the businessman.
The death of celebrities also generated significant search activity during the period.
Afro-fuji singer Destiny Boy, who died in January at the age of 22, remained in the news amid investigations into his death and an autopsy.
The death of American actor Eric Dane, known for his roles in Grey’s Anatomy and Euphoria, also generated substantial searches in February.
Similarly, the reported death of Nollywood actor Alexx Ekubo in May, at the age of 40, generated renewed search interest in June during his burial ceremonies.
Political and legal developments were also among the major subjects searched by Nigerians.
Former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, who was sentenced to 75 years in prison over an alleged N33 billion fraud, generated significant interest following his arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Kaduna in May.
The political crisis involving Mudashiru Obasa and his return as Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly also featured prominently.
Globally, Nigerians showed strong interest in the release of millions of pages of documents relating to the late American financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Meanwhile, internet culture accounted for some of the lighter moments in the search rankings.
The Gen Z meme “67” became one of the most searched terms in January, generating curiosity among older Nigerians over its meaning.
The trend originated from a U.S. rap song and became popular among young people, with the phrase often used without a specific meaning.
In April, the case involving Opeyemi Awodoyin, an OPay customer who reportedly received N100,000 in error and declined to return the money, also attracted widespread online interest and public debate.
The reported hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship further prompted Nigerians to search for information about the disease in May.
Celebrity-related stories also featured prominently in the rankings.
Veteran broadcaster Frank Edoho’s confirmation of his divorce and subsequent allegations involving his former wife generated considerable search interest in May.
In July, music promoter Sam Larry survived a road crash on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road which reportedly claimed the life of his bodyguard, leading to renewed online discussions around the late singer Mohbad.
In the entertainment sector, Wizkid and Asake’s “Jogodo” dominated searches around January, while Asake’s album generated renewed interest in May.
The 2026 Grammy Awards also attracted substantial search traffic, with Nigerians searching for winners and other developments from the ceremony.
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance also generated significant interest, while films including Mortal Kombat 2 and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey featured among popular entertainment searches.
Footballer Zadok Yohanna’s reported €28 million transfer to Brighton also attracted attention, particularly among Nigerian football followers.
Commenting on the findings, Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Communications and Public Affairs Manager, West Africa, Google, said search data provided an insight into issues commanding Nigerians’ attention.
“Search data is the most honest record of national attention we have, because nobody performs for a search bar,” he said.
According to him, Nigerians did not only consume major stories but actively searched for explanations and context surrounding them.
The rankings were based on peak monthly search interest in Nigeria between January and July 2026, with related queries grouped together.
The top 25 trending searches during the period included the FIFA World Cup 2026, 2026 Winter Olympics, AFCON Nigeria vs Morocco, Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, Blord, Alexx Ekubo, “67”, Destiny Boy, Erling Haaland and France’s World Cup campaign.
Others were the Grammy Awards 2026, Epstein files, hantavirus, Saleh Mamman, Obasa impeachment saga, Sam Larry, Shakira and Burna Boy’s World Cup performance, Zadok Yohanna, Eric Dane, Opeyemi Awodoyin, Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show, Frank Edoho, Mortal Kombat 2, The Odyssey and “Jogodo” by Wizkid featuring Asake.
Google Trends provides access to an anonymised sample of search requests made to Google and categorises the information to show collective search interest across regions and over time.
Kaspersky’s latest survey highlights a protection gap between macOS and Windows based devices. While macOS has long been regarded as the more secure operating system, 12% of its users reported malware infections compared with 9% of Windows users. Moreover, only 35% of macOS owners install dedicated security software, versus 42% of Windows users.
According to Kaspersky’s latest global survey*, Windows users report a higher adoption rate for most security measures, while macOS users show a modest advantage in a few privacy‑focused actions. At the same time, during the past year macOS users reported higher percentages than Windows users for a number of cybersecurity incidents.
The largest gap in cybersecurity approaches appears in the habit of not opening suspicious emails or links, with 62% of Windows users following this practice compared to 51% of macOS users.
What’s more, when it comes to cybersecurity software installation, macOS users are also lagging behind. While among Windows users 42% reported using digital‑life‑protection software, for macOS this rate is only 35%, what Kaspersky security experts call a worryingly low figure.
It is noteworthy that 12% of macOS respondents said they fell victim to phishing (fake emails, websites or messages) over the past year compared with 9% of Windows users. Moreover, during this period macOS users faced more scams and investment frauds (16% vs 13%), privacy violations (11% vs 8%) and thefts of personal data (12% vs 7%).
To counter these specific threats, robust anti-malware and anti-phishing protection is essential. Malware authors put a lot of effort into developing new, more powerful and stealthier versions of stealers, spies and other classes of malicious payloads, while relying on phishing techniques that allows them to get access to user’s data.
Dedicated security solutions add a crucial layer of real-time detection and defence that complements macOS’s built-in protection – and independent tests have repeatedly shown that effective options, such as Kaspersky Premium for macOS, deliver strong protection. In 2025, AV-TEST recognised it as the top-performing macOS security solution based on consistent, reliable results across a full year of evaluations.
When it comes to credentials and passwords safety, Windows users also show better security practices’ adoption rates. They lead in using a unique password for each account (38% vs 35%) and complex passwords (52% vs 45%), two‑factor or multi‑factor authentication (51% vs 46%).
Adopting a dedicated password manager becomes a logical next step. Such tools store all credentials in a secure vault protected by a single master password, eliminating the need to remember hundreds of passwords while keeping them safe from breaches.
They also support modern authentication methods like passkeys, enabling seamless, single-tap sign-in across all devices through secure synchronisation – capabilities offered by solutions such as Kaspersky Password Manager.
“There are entrenched stereotypes that macOS is inherently more secure because its user base is smaller, leading cyber‑criminals to deem it a lower‑value target, or because the platform itself includes many robust security features. While these observations are not entirely unfounded, the threat landscape has evolved dramatically.
Attackers actively employ phishing and commit supply chain attacks, which often allow them to affect users of any operating system in a single malware campaign. Moreover, mac specific malware is not rare and there are many malware families that target macs exclusively. Consequently, any device with an Internet connection, regardless of its operating system or form factor, requires cybersecurity software to defend against a wide range of cyber threats,” comments Sergey Puzan, cybersecurity expert at Kaspersky.
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