FG To Link Nigerians’ Addresses To National ID

The Federal Government is planning a new national addressing system that will link Nigerians’ verified addresses with their digital identities to improve planning, security, financial inclusion and emergency response.

The framework has been ratified by the National Addressing Council (NAC), chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, at a meeting in Abuja attended by government agencies and private-sector stakeholders.

Under the framework, the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation will serve as the secretariat of the council, with agencies including the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) assigned specific responsibilities.

Shettima said the system should allow government to locate citizens, businesses and communities while protecting personal information.

“Under the Renewed Hope Agenda, our duty is to build institutions that match the energy and mobility of our people. We must build a system that locate every community, support enterprise without barriers and stregthen government without compromising privacy.

“Our objective should be simple. for Nigerians to understand, wherever a citizen lives, wherever a business operates, wherever help is required, Nigeria should find the address. This is the standard before us and I am confident that the council will deliver,” Senator Shettima noted while addressing the council.

The Vice President said the proposed addressing system would connect with existing digital identity and government databases, allowing verified addresses to be securely linked to verified identities.

“And the strength of a modern addressing system lies in its ability to speak to other public systems. Our digital addressing framework must connect intelligently with other digital identity, government databases and wider digital public infrasrutcure.

“When a verified identity can be linked securely to a verified address, the gains extend across financial inclusion, social interventions, logistics, planning and emergency response.”

Under the proposed arrangement, NIMC will be responsible for individual address verification and authentication, while CAC will support verification of business addresses.

NIPOST will retain responsibility for postcode administration and postal infrastructure, while states and local governments are expected to drive implementation at community level.

The framework also assigns roles to the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and private-sector operators.

The Vice President said the system would require participation across all levels of government.

“The Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation is to serve as secretariat of the council. It must guide technical implementation, systems integration, interoperability and standards.

“NIMC has an essential responsibility in addressing individual verification and authentication, while CAC must support verification of business addresses. NIPOST remains indispensable for postcode administration and postal infrastructure.

“The success of this undertaking will also be decided, where Nigerians live. States and LGAs working through the NGF and ALGON must drive implementation at the community level through the local addressing and proof of address. NITDA, NDPC, ONSA, CBN, NCC and the OPS must bring their mandates to bear. No institution can own a system whose usefulness depends on participation across our federation.”

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, said the addressing system was fundamental to the government’s economic plans and could improve investor confidence.

“I think also that if the news of this initiative goes out, there will be a lot of incidents in terms of investors, knowing fully well that it’s no more business as usual but business unusual. I want to encourage all members of Council; let’s give our best to this,” the minister said.

The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Kingsley Tochukwu Udeh, said the initiative would address longstanding gaps in standardised addresses, proof of address and digital addressing.

“Before now, it was sort of crisis management but with coordination, we are now working as one nation and one people focused on doing this very critical assignment that should have been done decades ago – standardising address, proof of address and digital address. Your Excellency and members of Council, let me say that the onerous role you vested on me, I will discharge with discipline, sense of purpose and unity,” the minister stated.

The Director-General of NIMC, Abisoye Coker, said lack of coordination among agencies had previously hindered the initiative.

According to Salihu Ibrahim-Dasuki, Special Assistant to the President on ICT Policy in the Office of the Vice President, the National Addressing Policy 2017 needs to be revised because of changes in Nigeria’s institutional, statutory, constitutional and technological environment.

He said the existing policy was largely focused on mail delivery, postcodes and postal infrastructure, while responsibilities for citizen address verification were assigned to the National Bureau of Statistics.

He added that business address verification was not covered and that some of the structures in the policy were no longer suited to the current system of government.

The technical teams of NIPOST, NIMC and the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) also presented their proposals at the meeting.

The NAC meeting was attended by officials from the NDPC, NITDA, Nigeria Governors Forum, fintech companies and digital addressing operators.