NIMC Act 2026 positions the commission as the certification authority for national digital infrastructure
The National Identity Management Commission and technology firms have called for accelerated digitisation of government services, anchored in robust cybersecurity and a trusted digital identity system. They said the approach is critical to improving public service delivery, strengthening national security, and driving economic growth.
The call was made on Wednesday at the ITGov Nigeria 2026 summit organised by Tranter IT in collaboration with ManageEngine, the enterprise IT management division of Zoho Corporation, at the Abuja Continental Hotel.
Speaking at the summit, NIMC Director-General and CEO, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, said digital public infrastructure can only function effectively when built on a secure digital identity system. She warned that countries without reliable identity systems will continue to struggle with service delivery, while financial institutions, businesses and citizens remain vulnerable to fraud, inefficiency and exclusion.
“Without any professional digital public infrastructure system or a viable identity system, governments will continue to struggle to deliver services effectively. Financial institutions will face heightened risks. Businesses will suffer unnecessary costs,” she said.
Coker-Odusote said the NIMC Act 2026 has transformed the commission from a basic identity management agency into a strategic enabler of Nigeria’s digital economy. A key innovation, she noted, is NIMC’s establishment as the certification authority for Nigeria’s national public infrastructure.
“Technically, we are now the home of digital trust,” she said, explaining that the framework will support secure authentication, electronic signatures and digital trust services across both public and private sectors.
According to the NIMC boss, a secure digital identity ecosystem will improve governance by ensuring transparent service delivery, reducing identity fraud, lowering compliance costs, and enabling citizens to access services through a single verifiable credential. She also linked it to national security, saying it will strengthen intelligence gathering, support law enforcement and improve Nigeria’s resilience against cybercrime, identity theft and financial terrorism. “This milestone will significantly upgrade our cybersecurity posture, mitigate online fraud, and bolster confidence in Nigeria’s entire digital ecosystem,” she added.
Executive Chairman of Tranter IT, Dr Lare Ayoola, said government agencies must embrace integrated digital platforms covering identity management, cybersecurity, network management and customer service. He noted that automation could cut service timelines drastically. “Instead of three months, it would be reduced to one week because all the information will be collected online and the citizen does not have to queue up at different government offices,” he said.
Ayoola stressed that digitisation must be matched with stronger cybersecurity and data protection. “The need for highly effective cybersecurity solutions needs to come into place. The need for very effective database management solutions needs to come into place because of the privacy laws,” he said. He added that digital transformation would improve ease of doing business, reduce the cost of governance, increase revenue, and enable better planning through improved data.
Associate Director, Africa Sales and Channels at ManageEngine, Solomon Raj, said adoption of enterprise IT solutions by ministries has grown over the last three years, but limited technology awareness and reliance on legacy systems remain obstacles. He urged greater efforts to modernise government IT infrastructure. Coker-Odusote concluded that NIMC’s vision is “a Nigeria where public services are accessed digitally, securely and without delay,” stressing that public trust remains “the most valuable currency in the digital age.”
