The Transformative Governance Forum (TGF) has called on the Federal Government to end what it described as discriminatory and exploitative charges imposed on Nigerians living abroad for National Identification Number (NIN) enrolment.
In a statement issued on Friday by its Strategic Communications Directorate, the Forum urged the government to empower Nigerian missions abroad to conduct NIN enrolment directly, arguing that the same missions already provide passport services to Nigerians in the diaspora.
TGF said Nigerians abroad currently face a multi-step process and, in some cases, substantial charges for obtaining NIN, which it noted is free for enrolment in Nigeria. The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) also states that NIN enrolment and issuance are free, while its official information confirms that Nigerians in the diaspora can be enrolled through licensed foreign enrolment partners.
The Forum cited reports of charges of about €145 in parts of Europe and an alleged case in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, where a Nigerian was reportedly charged 20,000 CFA, approximately ₦44,000, for NIN enrolment at the Nigerian embassy. It said the Abidjan case had been brought before the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
“A Nigerian does not stop being a Nigerian because he lives in Berlin instead of Benin City,” TGF said, argued that Nigerians abroad should not have to pay a premium or depend on private agents to obtain the same identity credential available to citizens at home.
The Forum further pointed to the Nigeria Immigration Service’s passport operations at Nigerian missions worldwide, arguing that similar infrastructure could be deployed for NIN registration.
According to TGF, the fact that the National Identity Management Commission and the Nigeria Immigration Service fall under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior provides an opportunity to integrate the services and simplify identity enrolment for Nigerians abroad.
The organisation called for a single and publicly published fee schedule for diaspora NIN registration, reduced reliance on private agents and the deployment of mobile registration units to major Nigerian diaspora centres including London, Frankfurt, Houston and Johannesburg.
The Forum also commended the Federal Government for the relocation of NIMC to the Ministry of Interior, describing the move as a consolidation it had previously advocated.
TGF said identity management was more closely connected to immigration, citizenship and internal security and welcomed the enactment of the NIMC Act 2026.
The new NIMC Act, signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on June 26, 2026, replaced the 2007 law and establishes NIN as Nigeria’s foundational identity credential under the “one person, one identity” framework.
NIMC reported in July that more than 136 million Nigerians and legal residents had been enrolled in the National Identity Database.
“When government gets it right, we say so plainly,” TGF said, describing the movement of NIMC to the Interior Ministry as “the right decision.”
Beyond NIN reform, TGF renewed its call for the Federal Government to transfer birth registration, death registration and other civic registration functions from the National Population Commission (NPC) to the Ministry of Interior.
The Forum argued that placing birth, death, marriage and identity registration under the same administrative structure as NIMC and Immigration would reduce duplication, improve data consistency and make civic registration more coherent.
TGF maintained that a citizen’s identity record should effectively begin at birth rather than only when the individual later enrols for a NIN.
“We commended the first step. We are still waiting on the second,” the Forum said, urging the government to centralise civic registration under the Ministry of Interior while allowing the National Population Commission to concentrate on census and population data.
The Forum described its two proposals reforming diaspora NIN registration and consolidating civic registration as complementary measures aimed at creating what it called a more coherent, humane and accessible identity system for Nigerians at home and abroad.
