moRGANABLE Politics/Governance
An analysis of the financing position showed that approximately $196m, representing 45.6 per cent of the total financing, remained undisbursed, despite the project having been operational for several years
KaNo —
The Federal Government has requested a fresh 12-month extension of Nigeria’s $430m Digital Identification for Development Project, as approximately $196m of the project’s financing remains undisbursed and the number of Nigerians issued National Identification Numbers is 59 million below the target.
The proposed extension would move the project’s closing date from December 31, 2026, to December 31, 2027, marking the third time the government has sought additional time to implement the initiative since its approval in February 2020.
This was disclosed in a World Bank restructuring paper dated October 22, 2026, obtained by Punch Newspaper from the bank’s website on Wednesday.
According to the report, the proposed restructuring followed a request submitted by the Federal Government on May 8, 2026, seeking additional time to complete outstanding activities under the project.
“The proposed Level 2 restructuring seeks to extend the project closing date by 12 months, as requested by the Government on May 8, 2026,” the report stated.
The World Bank added that the extension would be the third since the project received approval from its board in February 2020, bringing the cumulative extension period to 42 months, or three and a half years.
The project was initially scheduled to close in June 2024 but was first granted a six-month extension before receiving another two-year extension.
An analysis of the financing position showed that approximately $196m, representing 45.6 per cent of the total financing, remained undisbursed, despite the project having been operational for several years.
The bank disclosed that total disbursements, including contributions from co-financiers, stood at approximately $234m, representing 54.4 per cent of the available financing.
“The overall project disbursement rate inclusive of co-financiers stands at approximately $234m or 54.4 per cent,” the report stated.
The $430m financing package comprises $115m from the World Bank’s International Development Association, $100m equivalent from the French Development Agency and $215m equivalent from the European Investment Bank.
The undisbursed balance covers the contributions of all three financing institutions, although the report’s financing summary separately identified $18.83m as the outstanding balance under the World Bank’s IDA component.
Approved in February 2020 and declared effective in December 2021, the project was designed to expand access to legal identification and essential services through the development of a secure, inclusive and reliable national identity system.
However, the latest figures indicate that the programme is yet to achieve its central enrolment target.
As of September 30, 2026, approximately 121 million Nigerians had received their NINs, against the project’s target of 180 million, leaving a gap of 59 million.
Although the figure represents an increase of about 84 million from the baseline, the National Identity Management Commission must significantly accelerate enrolment to meet the target within the proposed implementation period.
The World Bank report said NIMC had reaffirmed its commitment to achieving the 180 million target but acknowledged that the current enrolment rate was insufficient.
“NIMC reconfirmed the commitment to reach the target of 180 million noting that this would require an increase in monthly enrollment rates from the current average of 1.5 million to 3.9 million,” the report stated.
This means the commission would need to increase its average monthly enrolment by approximately 160 per cent to achieve the target.
The bank also highlighted the difference between the number of people whose enrolment records had been captured and those who had successfully received NINs.
It noted that more than 140 million enrolments had been recorded as of September 14, 2026, but only 121 million had completed the required biometric and demographic validation, including duplicate checks.
The report further identified gaps in the enrolment of women and children, two groups considered important to the project’s inclusion objectives.
As of June 2026, approximately 40.4 million women and girls had received NINs against a target of 79 million, while 26.3 million children below the age of 16 had been enrolled against a target of 60.83 million.
The figures indicate that both categories remain substantially below their respective targets, highlighting the need for more targeted enrolment strategies.
Another challenge identified by the World Bank was the delay in payments to enrolment partners responsible for expanding access to NIN registration services.
According to the report, the billing system must be strengthened to generate audited payment reports required to settle outstanding obligations to the partners.
It disclosed that some enrolment partners had not received payments since January 2026, a development that could affect their participation and the pace of registration activities.
The bank also outlined several outstanding activities that must be completed during the proposed extension period.
These include deploying 7,000 procured mobile enrolment devices by January 2027, training enrolment agents, expanding registration campaigns to wards nationwide and commencing enrolment activities in schools by December 2026.
The ward-level enrolment campaign, which began in March 2026, had generated approximately 10 million NINs, according to the report.
A major factor behind the extension request is the delayed deployment of the National Identity Management System 2.0, which is expected to replace the commission’s existing technology infrastructure.
The contract for the new system was signed on September 15, 2026, following a lengthy procurement process that delayed implementation.
The World Bank disclosed that a project originally expected to require approximately 18 months had been compressed into 15 months, with full deployment and data migration scheduled for December 15, 2027.
The new platform is expected to replace fragmented proprietary systems with an open-source infrastructure designed to improve operational capacity, interoperability and data protection.
Although the NINAuth digital authentication platform was launched in May 2025, the project has yet to achieve its digital authentication targets, pending integration with the new identity management system.
The World Bank warned that failure to approve the extension would have implications beyond its own financing, potentially bringing the contributions of the other development partners to an end.
“If the project is not extended by WBG, all other co-financiers will also close,” the report stated.
The proposed extension is therefore expected to provide additional time for the government and its development partners to complete the outstanding infrastructure, expand enrolment and improve the delivery of digital identity services.
The outcome will also determine whether NIMC can substantially increase its registration capacity, address delays affecting enrolment partners and close the existing gap between the number of Nigerians enrolled and the project’s 180 million target.
