The Federal Government has requested another 12-month extension of Nigeria’s $430 million digital identity project as approximately $196m of its financing remains undisbursed and National Identification Number (NIN) issuance trails the target by 59 million.

This is contained in a World Bank restructuring paper dated 22 October, 2026, obtained by The PUNCH from the bank’s website on Wednesday.

The proposed extension would move the Nigeria Digital Identification for Development Project’s closing date from 31 December, 2026, to 31 December, 2027.

“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.

“This would be the third closing date extension under this project since Board Approval in February 2020, for the cumulative period of 42 months (3.5 years).”

The project was originally scheduled to close in June 2024 before receiving a six-month extension and another two-year extension.

An analysis by The PUNCH showed that approximately $196m, representing 45.6 per cent of the financing, remained undisbursed after total disbursements reached about $234m.

“The overall project disbursement rate inclusive of co-financiers stands at approximately $234m or 54.4 per cent,” the bank stated.

The financing 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 therefore covers all three financiers. The report’s financing summary separately puts IDA’s undisbursed balance at $18.83m.

Approved in February 2020 and effective from December 2021, the project seeks to expand access to identification and services through a secure, inclusive national identity system.

However, about 121 million people had received NINs by September 30, 2026, against the 180 million target, leaving a shortfall of 59 million.

Although this represents an increase of approximately 84 million from the baseline, NIMC must substantially accelerate enrolment to meet the target.

“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 implies a 160 per cent increase in monthly enrolment.

The bank also distinguished enrolment records from successfully generated NINs, noting that more than 140 million enrolments had been recorded by September 14, but only 121 million had completed biometric and demographic validation and duplicate checks.

Women and children remained behind their respective targets. As of June, 40.4 million women and girls had NINs against a target of 79 million, while 26.3 million children under 16 had NINs against 60.83 million.

The report identified unpaid enrolment partners as another constraint, stating that the billing system must produce audited payment reports to enable payments to partners “which have not been paid since January 2026.”

Other priorities include deploying 7,000 procured mobile devices by January 2027, training agents, expanding ward-level enrolment nationwide and beginning school enrolment by December 2026.

The ward campaign had generated 10 million NINs since March, according to the report.

A major reason for the extension is the delayed replacement of NIMC’s existing technology with the National Identity Management System 2.0.

The contract was signed on September 15, 2026, following lengthy procurement. Implementation, normally requiring approximately 18 months, was compressed into 15 months, with full deployment and data migration scheduled for December 15, 2027.

The new platform would replace fragmented proprietary systems with an open-source system designed to improve capacity, interoperability and data protection.

Although NINAuth was launched in May 2025, the project’s digital authentication targets remained unmet pending integration into the new platform.

The bank warned that failure to extend its involvement would also halt implementation by the other financiers.

“If the project is not extended by WBG, all other co-financiers will also close,” it stated.

Source: punchng.com

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The Federal Government has explained how it selects beneficiaries for its N50,000 cash relief under the National Emergency Relief and Stabilisation Intervention.

The clarification comes as payments continue and many Nigerians seek to understand how the government identifies recipients and determines their eligibility.

According to information on the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction’s NERSI website, sighted by PUNCH Online on Wednesday, beneficiaries are selected from verified national identity records and the National Social Register.

“Beneficiaries are selected from verified national identity records and the national social register, then screened to reach poor and vulnerable households,” the website states under its eligibility and selection section.

The National Identification Number (NIN) is issued by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) after enrolment.

It is used to verify an individual’s identity and is linked to the mobile wallet through which selected beneficiaries receive the relief.

The National Social Register (NSR), on the other hand, is a database of poor and vulnerable households in Nigeria, coordinated by the National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating Office.

According to NASSCO, the register contains data on more than 70 million individuals.

It said registering vulnerable persons is a multi-process activity that begins with states identifying their poorest local government areas and communities, after which trained teams work with residents and community leaders to identify vulnerable households.

The identified households are then registered digitally and assessed using poverty indicators.

Those ranked within the bottom six deciles may qualify for inclusion in the National Beneficiary Register, which is used for programmes such as cash transfers.

Enrollment in both NIMC and NSR is a prerequisite for being selected for N50,000 cash relief, according to NERSI.

However, the office does not provide further details on the specific screening criteria used to determine relief recipients.

It stresses that Nigerians cannot apply or pay to be included in the beneficiary list.

“You cannot apply or pay to be added,” the website says. “Not everyone is in the first group. Your data is used only for this programme.”

The Humanitarian Assistance Programme is described as the Federal Government’s shock-responsive cash transfer initiative for poor and vulnerable households. It provides financial support through mobile wallets.

“Under NERSI, selected beneficiaries receive support of ₦50,000 into a mobile wallet,” the website explains. “It is a grant from the Federal Government. You do not pay it back.”

According to the office, selection is based on need and covers all six geopolitical zones, regardless of religion, ethnicity or political affiliation. Payments are made in phases, meaning beneficiaries are not contacted at the same time.

PUNCH Online reported that the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Bernard Doro, announced the commencement of disbursement in a statement on October 30.

Nigerians can check if they are selected through the approved providers by dialling their USSD codes: ALAT by Wema (*945*23#), MoMo PSB (*671*0#), NairaGram (*726*00#), OPay (*955*20#) and Moniepoint (*5573*27#).

Source: punchng.com

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The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) on Wednesday said that the illegal refinery recently discovered at Ogere Remo in Ikenne Local Government Area of Ogun State was operating on over three hectares of land, with an underground storage tank estimated to have a capacity of more than 90,000 litres.

The State Coordinator of NMDPRA, Dr Atilola Akinyemi, disclosed this on Wednesday during a joint inspection of the facility by officials of the authority and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Akinyemi explained, “We received information about this operation, and we realised that it was important for us to be here personally. This kind of discovery cannot be made through ordinary monitoring alone; it requires intelligence gathering. As the Zonal Director of the EFCC has explained, intelligence was instrumental in uncovering this operation. We need more of such efforts.”

“The facility you see here is very crude and completely illegal. This is not a refinery by any standard. I want you to understand that this facility does not have a permit from any regulatory authority, and its operations are unknown to the relevant authorities.

“This can be likened to the illegal refining activities that were prevalent in the Niger Delta during the 1990s and early 2000s. One question that comes to mind is: where do they source their feedstock?”

He explained that the facility had underground storage tanks with an estimated capacity of more than 90,000 litres, locally fabricated tanks, separation silos, underground heating systems and hydrants used for cooling.

Akinyemi added that the operators appeared to have technical knowledge and had designed the facility to imitate a standard refinery while bypassing established regulations.

He, however, cautioned against describing the recovered products as diesel, also known as Automotive Gas Oil, saying laboratory tests were necessary to determine their actual composition.

The NMDPRA coordinator warned that allowing the products into the market could expose vehicles and automobile engines to serious risks.

He maintained that the products and materials recovered from the facility had been confiscated and placed under the authority of the Federal Government pending laboratory analysis and verification.

Akinyemi declared that the authority would not tolerate illegal refining activities in Ogun State, adding that it would continue to collaborate with law enforcement agencies to uncover similar facilities.

He added, “We can identify the various components of the operation, including the areas where they receive their feedstock. The underground storage facility behind the site is estimated to have a capacity of more than 90,000 litres.

“We have also seen how they carry out the heating and processing of the materials using underground heating systems, as well as the water hydrants installed for cooling.

“It is clear that the people behind this operation are not ordinary individuals. They appear to be technically skilled people who have deliberately designed this facility to circumvent government regulations and operate outside the established regulatory framework.

“We have seen locally fabricated storage tanks, silos for separation, and other equipment. Everything about the setup suggests that they attempted to replicate the operations of a standard refinery but failed to meet the required standards.”

Meanwhile, the EFCC Zonal Director, Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, Bawa Usman Kaltungo, said that the commission acted on information provided by a Nigerian whistleblower, adding that surveillance was conducted to authenticate the intelligence before a sting operation was launched.

According to him, the information was provided following an appeal by the EFCC Executive Chairman, who had encouraged Nigerians to report suspicious activities under the commission’s whistleblowing policy.

“A Nigerian who responded to that call subsequently provided us with information about an illegal mining site. We informed the Chairman, who directed us to conduct surveillance first. We carried out the surveillance and confirmed that the information was accurate,” Kaltungo said.

“Following that, the Chairman directed us to conduct a sting operation, which we successfully carried out. It was during that operation that we discovered this facility. We are also on the verge of discovering another location.”

The EFCC official expressed concern over the immigration status of some of the foreign nationals arrested, saying some could not produce passports, while others had visas that reportedly expired about three months earlier.

He added that the commission was investigating the ownership structure of the companies allegedly connected with the operation, noting that some of the ultimate owners were based in China.

Also speaking, the Director of the Department of Proceeds of Crime Management, EFCC, Mr Gbolahan Latona, warned that illegal petroleum operations could undermine legitimate investments in Nigeria’s refining industry and deprive the country of revenue.

He said the commission would ensure that assets established to be proceeds of crime were recovered and put to productive use in accordance with the law.

Latona cited the conversion of Nok University, following its forfeiture to the government, into the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, as an example of the EFCC’s asset recovery and social reuse initiative.

He said the discovered facility could also be subjected to appropriate recovery and reuse procedures, depending on the outcome of investigations and the necessary legal processes.

Latona further warned that illegal operators should not be allowed to undermine investments made by legitimate players in the petroleum industry, particularly major domestic refining projects.

He assured that the suspects would face prosecution if sufficient evidence was established against them, adding that the commission would also investigate individuals and interests allegedly financing the operation from outside the country.

Source: punchng.com

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