A total of 22,492,748 Nigerians were registered by the National Identity Management Commission and issued the National Identity Numbers in 2022, a decrease of 16.85 per cent relative to 27,052,148 in 2021.
This is according to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics tagged “National Identity Registration Statistics 2022” published on the NBS website on Monday.
According to the report, 255,726 of the total number of registrations were from Nigerians in the diaspora, while the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory recorded 22,237,022 registrations and NIN issued in the year under review.
Out of the total registrations, 12,643,563 were males, while 9,849,185 females registered and were issued NIN.
The top five states with the highest number of registrations and issuance of identity numbers, according to the NBS, were Kano (2,444,224), Lagos (2,097,912), Kaduna (1,256,479), Katsina (1,156,149) and Ogun (1,075,942); while the least five states with registrations and issuance of identity number were Bayelsa (100,525), Ekiti (141,534), Ebonyi (165,375), Cross-River (268,904) and Kogi (308,681).
The report also noted that the North-West zone recorded the highest number of registrations and NIN issued with 7,207,695, followed by the South-West with 4,825,143, while the South-East recorded the least with 1,793,373 in 2022.
“Niger State recorded the highest registrations and NIN issued in the North-Central with 368,131 males and 229,047 females. In contrast, Kogi State had the least registrations and NIN issued with 163,721 males and 144,960 females,” the report stated.
In the North-East, Bauchi State recorded the highest registrations and NIN issued with 476,042 males and 288,184 females, while Taraba State had the least registrations and NIN issued with 202,471 males and 132,470 females.
Kano State recorded the highest registrations and NIN issued in the North-West with 1,322,194 males and 1,122,030 females, Zamfara State with 358,029 males and 125,228 females had the least registrations and NIN issued.
In the South-East zone, the report said Abia State recorded the highest registrations and NIN issued with 359,119 males and 154,375 females. Ebonyi State, which had the least registrations and NIN issued in the zone, had 90,346 males and 75,029 females.
“In 2022, Rivers State recorded the highest registrations and NIN issued in the South-South with 338,291 males and 310,198 females. In contrast, Bayelsa state had the least registrations and NIN issued with 58,063 males and 42,462 females.
“Lagos State recorded the highest registrations and NIN issued in the South-West with 1,104,042 males and 993,870 females. In contrast, Ekiti State had the fewest registrations and NIN issued with 76,199 males and 65,335 females,” the report added.
