Ex-NIPOST Boss Urges FG to Link NINs With Verified Addresses

Former Postmaster-General of the Federation, Bisi Adegbuyi, has urged the Federal Government to leverage the recent partnership between the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) to establish a national address system that links every National Identification Number (NIN) to a verified physical address.

Adegbuyi said Nigeria’s investment in digital identity would deliver greater value if identity records were connected to reliable location data, enabling government agencies to accurately identify where citizens, businesses and public assets are located.

In a policy paper released on Monday, he argued that the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding between NIMC and NIPOST should go beyond developing a national postcode framework and instead support the creation of a comprehensive digital addressing infrastructure.

“Identity answers who. Location answers where. A functional digital society requires trusted answers to both questions,” he said.

According to him, postcodes identify geographical areas but do not provide sufficient information about specific individuals or properties.

He explained that integrating verified addresses with identity records would strengthen planning, improve service delivery and enhance address verification across government institutions.

Adegbuyi noted that millions of address records collected during NIN registration already provide a strong foundation for such a system.

Rather than waiting for the nationwide rollout of a postcode system, he suggested that the existing address records should be standardised, verified and geocoded to create a trusted national location database.

The former NIPOST chief recalled that during his tenure, the agency developed a Digital Addressing System and an Address Verification System designed to combine physical addresses, digital coordinates and identity verification into one platform.

He said the initiative won the 2018 World Summit on the Information Society Prize, while discussions were initiated with NIMC to integrate the platform with the National Identity Number database, although the plan was never fully implemented.

Adegbuyi proposed that NIPOST should continue managing Nigeria’s official postcode system while NIMC oversees identity-linked address verification.

He added that verified location data would improve policing, emergency response, tax administration, logistics and social intervention programmes.

He also called for greater investment in indigenous digital mapping technologies, describing Nigeria’s addressing challenge as an identity, governance and national security issue requiring coordinated action across all levels of government.