The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) is facing growing criticism following the announcement of a revised charge of N28,574 for the correction of date of birth (DOB) on the National Identification Number (NIN) database. The new fee, which represents a 75% increase from the previous charge of N16,340, was made public on 10 May 2025, as part of a broader revision of the Commission’s service charges.
Speaking on Monday, Barrister Oladipupo Ige, Director of Policy and Managing Partner at the Data Privacy Lawyers Association (DPLAN), faulted the Commission for failing to clearly outline exceptions to the payment requirement, as stipulated under existing data protection laws.
He referenced Article 36 of the GENERAL APPLICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION DIRECTIVE (GAID) 2025, which governs the right to rectification. Section 4 of the article provides that data subjects should not be charged to correct errors made by data controllers or processors. It also emphasises the need to give individuals adequate opportunity to verify their data before it is submitted in a permanent format.
Speaking , Ige stated that citizens have a legal right to know whether an error in their personal data, such as a DOB, was caused by them or by the institution responsible for managing the data.
He explained, “Based on Article 36 of the NDP-GAID 2025, if the DOB correction is the fault of the citizen, then he or she must pay the sum, but if not, such rectification is free of charge per law.”
He added that while NIMC is within its rights to set or increase service fees, it must not impose charges for rectifying errors that were not caused by the individual. According to Ige, “What the NIMC is trying to do by the increment announcement on DOB is to charge everybody generally without finding out whose fault resulted in the DOB error.”
He warned that asking Nigerians to pay N28,000 for corrections that may have resulted from internal errors would amount to a breach of data rights. “That’s not what the law says. What the NIMC needs to do is to clarify that position and make sure Nigerians don’t pay 28k for the mistake of the NIMC,” he stressed.
He further called on the Commission to account for the pricing model by explaining the origin of the errors and who should rightly bear the cost of correction.
In its executive summary accompanying the new fee structure, NIMC explained that the price revision was driven by multiple factors, including the need to improve its revenue generation, align with tax unification efforts, support social intervention programmes, and expand its range of services.
“Following due consultation with all departments and in consideration of the above and current market realities of inflation at 32.70%, we propose an upward review in the fees and charges for our product and services with a markup at least 20% across with exceptions to certain services per their peculiarities,” the Commission stated.
The NIMC also noted that it benchmarked its new rates against similar charges imposed by agencies offering related services, such as those responsible for passports and driving licences. The Commission highlighted the necessity of maintaining its infrastructure and achieving financial independence as part of the rationale behind the revised pricing.
However, the controversy over whether citizens should be charged for corrections not caused by them remains unresolved, with legal experts and privacy advocates calling for greater transparency and adherence to data protection regulations.