Nigeria has launched the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) national biometric identity card (ENBIC) as part of efforts to enhance regional integration, improve identity management, and strengthen security across the region.
Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of interior, launched the identity card in Abuja on Friday at the Transcorp Hilton hotel.
The minister said the card presented “a powerful new beginning” for secure mobility and regional integration.
ECOWAS adopted the ENBIC in 2014 to replace the bloc’s handwritten travel certificate.
The biometric card embeds an electronic chip that stores biometric and biographical data to enable secure identity verification, reduce fraud and make intra‑region travel easier.
Senegal became the first country to begin issuing the card in 2016.
Over time, five more of the bloc’s 15 member states fully deployed the card. They include Guinea‑Bissau, Ghana, Benin, The Gambia, and Sierra Leone. Nigeria is now the seventh country.
Tunji-Ojo said the delay in implementation of the ENBIC was inconsistent with Nigeria’s capacity.
“It is unlike the Nigerian standard. That is very unusual, but the good news is that President Tinubu came in, insisted on delivery, and today the promise has become a reality,” he said.
This is leadership in action, not about what we will do but what we have done.”
The minister said the biometric card would be the foundation of a new security and identity ecosystem that will transform intelligence gathering and border control.
“You cannot protect who you do not know. Identification is the bedrock of security,” he said, stressing that the card would help tackle irregular migration.
Tunji-Ojo added that the government is exploring a regional migration database in collaboration with ECOWAS states, similar to the Schengen system, to further strengthen cross-border security.
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