…as NIMC scales data capacity to 250m
The Federal Government will begin issuing digital identity cards to farmers in August, a move aimed at improving data collection, ensuring targeted subsidies, and modernising the nation’s sprawling but fragmented agricultural sector.
The initiative, spearheaded by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in collaboration with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), is part of broader efforts to digitise farmer records, enhance supply chain transparency, and curb the diversion of agricultural support programs.
This was disclosed by Abisoye Coker-Odusote, Director-General of the Commission, during an exclusive interview with BusinessDay in Abuja.
The new card scheme, planned to link digital payment access to every Nigerian with a National Identification Number (NIN), is poised to transform the country’s identity and payment ecosystem.
According to Coker-Odusote, “the G2P card is part of a broader government initiative to streamline public service delivery through digital identity and secure payment systems. While agriculture is the initial focus, similar cards will also be issued under other programs, including student loans (via NELFUND), palliative distributions, and various social intervention schemes.
“For the different projects we are handling with the cards, we have different timelines. It’s not a single, generic timeline,” she explained. “However, within the next three months, those cards should begin to be issued.”
Read also: Agriculture Ministry, NIMC roll out digital identity cards to drive food security
The G2P card is designed to enhance transparency, accountability, and efficiency in Government interventions. Each sector, including agriculture, will follow its own rollout schedule. The cards are NIN-enabled and embedded with biometric data, allowing secure, real-time identity verification—even in remote areas without internet access.
Coker-Odusote emphasised the card’s importance in tracking beneficiaries’ interactions with Government programs. For example, if a citizen receives agricultural inputs like seeds or fertiliser, or later accesses land through another initiative, all actions can be traced using their National Identification Number (NIN).
“This enables accountability, as it clearly shows what the government has provided and to whom,” she said. “It also eliminates duplication and strengthens transparency in public service delivery.”
The G2P card ecosystem allows for the issuance of NIN-enabled biometric cards by various Federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs). Each card is customised and owned by the issuing MDA and tailored to serve specific target groups.
The card includes a high-capacity chip storing biometric data, Know Your Customer (KYC) information, photographs, and fingerprints. It supports multiple applets and wallets to enable simultaneous access to different Government services.
The cards operate using a secure, interoperable biometric Point of Sale (POS) device, ensuring that only the intended beneficiary can access the associated services.
“Within this framework, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) will issue G2P cards to farmers, aligning them with the ministry’s registry. These cards will facilitate access to agricultural subsidies, equipment, loans, and other interventions at both national and sub-national levels”, she said.
She stated that NIMC had expanded its back-end infrastructure capacity from 100 million to 250 million records. This major upgrade, done in partnership with the World Bank’s Identification for Development (ID4D) initiative, ensures scalability and continuity of identity services.
“When we assumed office, enrollment had reached about 82 million, dangerously close to the system’s original limit. We had to act fast to scale the infrastructure,” Coker-Odusote said.
Read also: FG to establish farmers’ database to facilitate interventions
She revealed that over 120 million Nigerians had been enrolled in the national identity database, making it the largest in Africa. To overcome challenges in rural and hard-to-reach communities. The Commission has decentralised enrollment down to the ward and community levels and introduced a pre-enrollment mobile app.
This app simplifies appointment booking and allows citizens to update their data using AI-powered biometric technology.
NIMC has also intensified efforts to safeguard data integrity. A comprehensive cleanup of the identity database was recently completed, including the removal of over 6,000 non-resident nationals from Niger Republic.
“The NIN is issued only to Nigerian citizens and legal residents. One of the challenges we encountered was the presence of foreigners without legal residency in the database. That data has now been cleaned up,” she said, affirming NIMC’s commitment to citizen-centred service and data protection.
To address identity fraud and prevent duplication, NIMC has revalidated all front-end enrollment partners and instituted strict compliance with global data protection standards under its “privacy by design” framework.
“Inclusion is at the core of our mandate. We are building a system that leaves no one behind—not the elderly, not the disabled, not the displaced,” Coker-Odusote affirmed.
