FG Begins Six-Month Revalidation of Cooperatives, Unveils Digital Identity System

The Federal Government has commenced a six-month national revalidation and re-certification exercise for existing cooperative societies across Nigeria, alongside the launch of a unified digital identity framework for the sector.

The initiative followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Cooperative Federation of Nigeria and identity management technology company Seamfix Limited.

The agreement was signed in Abuja during the National Technical Workshop on Cooperative Sector Digitalisation.

Speaking at the event, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security and Supervising Minister of Cooperative Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, described the initiative as a major step towards improving visibility, accountability and digital governance in the cooperative sector.

Under the exercise, existing cooperative societies are required to approach their respective State Departments of Cooperatives for verification and authentication of their registration records.

Societies that successfully complete the process will be enrolled on the National Cooperative Smart Registry and issued Cooperative Verification Numbers. Their members will subsequently be registered and progressively issued Cooperative Member Identification Numbers.

Abdullahi said the National Cooperative Smart Registry, Cooperative Verification Number and Cooperative Member Identification Number would form the core of the National Cooperative Digital Architecture Platform.

According to him, the digital system would enable the government to identify genuine cooperatives and members, track beneficiaries of government interventions and assess the impact of support provided to them.

He said verified Cooperative Verification Numbers would also serve as trusted credentials for cooperatives seeking access to government programmes, bank loans, contracts and partnerships.

The minister added that the platform would integrate with CoopCHECK, a cooperative credit bureau, to strengthen credit profiling and improve lending opportunities for cooperative societies.

To promote inclusion, Abdullahi said the digital platform would not depend solely on smartphones, as USSD and feature-phone access would also be incorporated, particularly for cooperators in rural communities.

He urged State Directors of Cooperatives to ensure effective implementation of the revalidation exercise and called on cooperative organisations to mobilise members for participation.

Abdullahi said the verification process would also strengthen compliance with Section 54 of the Cooperative Societies Act, particularly by preventing unauthorised use of the name “Co-operative”.

He assured genuine cooperative societies that they had nothing to fear from the verification process.

The minister further directed the harmonisation of ongoing reviews of the Nigerian Cooperative Societies Act towards the development of a new Cooperative Societies Bill for repeal and re-enactment.