FG Revives Digital Postcode Project After 20 Years, Begins NIN Integration

• The Federal Government has revived Nigeria’s digital postcode project nearly two decades after it was conceived and has begun integrating it with the National Identification Number (NIN) to improve identity verification, address validation and access to public services.

The Federal Government has revived Nigeria’s long-delayed National Digital Postcode Project, more than 20 years after it was first conceived, and has begun integrating it with the National Identification Number (NIN) to strengthen digital identity, improve address verification and enhance service delivery nationwide.

The development follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) in Abuja on Friday.

The agreement was signed by the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of NIMC, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, and the Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer of NIPOST, Tola Odeyemi.

Under the partnership, NIPOST will be integrated into NIMC’s digital identity ecosystem to expand access to identity services, strengthen identity verification and support the Federal Government’s digital transformation agenda.

Speaking during the signing ceremony, Coker-Odusote disclosed that both agencies had already integrated postcode retrieval into the NIN platform, allowing Nigerians to verify their addresses and retrieve their digital postcodes through a single platform.

“Our teams have collaborated to integrate postcode retrieval into the NIN platform, so that Nigerians will soon be able to confirm their address and retrieve their postcode through one trusted platform. This is designed to make access faster and more convenient for all Nigerians,” she said.

According to her, the National Identification Number confirms a person’s identity, while the National Postcode System identifies where the individual can be reliably located.

“Together, these two national assets create a powerful foundation for inclusive governance and digital transformation,” she added.

Coker-Odusote explained that linking Nigeria’s identity database with the national postcode infrastructure would improve access to government services, healthcare, education, financial services, logistics, e-commerce and emergency response while strengthening transparency and policy implementation.

She also announced that NIPOST has been licensed as a front-end enrolment partner for NIMC, enabling Nigerians to register for their National Identification Number at post offices across the country.

“Nigerians who want to go to post offices can enrol there, and they will capture their details on our behalf,” she said.

Describing the initiative as a “game changer,” the NIMC boss said it would create a national database containing verified identities linked to verified addresses and locations, making address verification easier for financial institutions, government agencies and private businesses.

She further disclosed that the newly enacted NIMC Act 2026 had strengthened the commission’s powers to combat identity fraud while modernising Nigeria’s legal framework for digital identity management.

In her remarks, NIPOST Postmaster General Tola Odeyemi said the digital postcode system would assign every addressable structure in Nigeria a unique, GIS-enabled, machine-readable location identifier.

“We’re giving a unique GIS-enabled, machine-readable location identifier to every standing building in the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” she said.

According to Odeyemi, the initiative will improve logistics, emergency response, urban planning and access to government services by combining trusted identity with trusted location information.

She revealed that although the project was first conceived in 2006, it has received full Federal Government funding for the first time under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

“The Nigerian Postal Service has been trying this project since 2006. This is the first time that this project has been fully funded by the Federal Government of Nigeria,” she said.

Odeyemi added that the renewed investment reflects the government’s recognition that digital identity and national addressing systems are essential infrastructure for economic development, financial inclusion and effective governance.

The MoU formally integrates NIPOST into NIMC’s digital identity ecosystem and reinforces both agencies’ commitment to building a secure, inclusive and interoperable digital identity system for Nigerians.