The Ministry of Defence has reaffirmed its commitment to partnering with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to fully implement the NIMC Act 2026, leveraging integrated digital identity systems and identity verification to strengthen national security operations.
The Minister of Defence, General Christopher Gwabin Musa (Rtd), stated this while receiving the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of NIMC, Dr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote, and her management team at the Ship House in Abuja.
General Musa emphasised that stronger inter-agency collaboration is essential to addressing the evolving nature of crime and security threats, noting that tackling both internal and external security challenges depends heavily on reliable and actionable data.
“For us in the security sector, data is critical—to know who we are dealing with, who we are expecting, and even those within us, because sometimes the enemy is within. It is therefore vital for us to be able to identify everyone accurately,” General Musa said.
He added that the Ministry of Defence would continue to provide full support to government institutions in line with its constitutional mandate to safeguard the nation.
Earlier, Dr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote said the visit focused on the strategic implementation of the NIMC Act 2026 and its critical role in strengthening Nigeria’s security architecture.
She noted that a robust digital identity system would improve identity verification, support intelligence gathering and enhance collaboration among security agencies.
Both leaders agreed on the need to build a secure, trusted and interoperable digital identity ecosystem to improve identity verification, strengthen defence operations and promote seamless intelligence sharing across government institutions.
