The Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Hussaini Magaji, says the new National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act will strengthen Nigeria’s digital identity framework and support the growth of the national economy.
Magaji said this on Thursday while receiving a delegation from the NIMC at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja during a sensitisation and enlightenment campaign on the provisions of the newly enacted NIMC Act 2026.
He said the CAC, like NIMC, had aligned its operations with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda aimed at transforming public service delivery through technology and innovation.
According to him, the commission has introduced Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven features into its processes to improve efficiency and enhance service delivery to customers.
Magaji congratulated the Director-General of NIMC, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, for the successful repeal of the 19-year-old NIMC Act and the enactment of a new legal framework.
He described NIMC as a strategic partner to the CAC, noting that identity verification remained a critical requirement for company registration and other corporate transactions.
“The new NIMC Act introduces a robust identity validation framework.
“Henceforth, the Corporate Affairs Commission is bound by law to verify all relevant data with the National Identification Number (NIN),” he said.
The registrar-general urged members of the public and corporate stakeholders to update and verify their records to ensure seamless compliance with the new legal requirements.
Speaking on the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) provisions contained in the Act, Magaji said the CAC intended to fully adopt the framework into its operations.
He appealed to NIMC to designate the commission as one of its authorised aggregators, considering the volume of identity verification required for business registration and regulatory services.
“We have already been integrated into your systems, and we seek to operate within your framework because of the large amount of business and identity data that require verification,” he said.
Earlier, Coker-Odusote, said the visit formed part of a nationwide sensitisation tour to educate key stakeholders on the provisions and implementation of the NIMC Act 2026.
“We are engaging our critical partners to explain where we are today and the new responsibilities the law has placed on the commission.
“The NIMC Act 2007, which remained in force for over 19 years, has now been repealed and re-enacted as the NIMC Act 2026 in line with international best practices and standards.”
The NIMC boss said one of the major innovations of the new law was the establishment of a national PKI, which would deepen, secure digital authentication and strengthen collaboration across government institutions.
She said the commission was seeking closer collaboration with the CAC to jointly advance Nigeria’s digital economy through trusted digital identity services.
Also speaking, the Coordinating Director of Operations at NIMC, Dr Alvan Ikoku, outlined the major innovations introduced by the new Act.
Ikoku said the legislation transformed NIMC from being primarily a custodian of identity data into Nigeria’s Root Certification Authority.
He also said that the legislation had empowered the commission to certify digital documents and authenticate systems across government institutions while also participating in private sector organisations.
According to him, electronic signatures, encryption, secure authentication and digital credentials will now enjoy legal trust under a unified national framework.
Ikoku added that the Act would strengthen Nigeria’s control over its digital trust infrastructure as well as reduce dependence on foreign trust systems.
“Nigeria now possesses a sovereign digital identity and trust architecture capable of supporting national security, critical infrastructure and international digital transactions,”Ikoku said. (NAN)
