The federal government has taken decisive steps to reform the nation’s deficient addressing system, long hampered by poor institutional coordination, inter-agency friction, and a lack of synergy among key state actors.
?At a meeting of the National Addressing Council (NAC), participating institutions ratified a preliminary framework designed to align operations and realise Nigeria’s vision of a digitised, modern national addressing infrastructure.
?Stakeholders observed that the National Addressing Policy of 2017 had become obsolete due to sweeping institutional, statutory, constitutional, and technological shifts. The previous framework focused narrowly on mail delivery, postcodes, and traditional postal infrastructure, fostering significant institutional misalignment.
?Under the outgoing arrangement, citizen address verification fell under the purview of the National Bureau of Statistics, whilst business address verification was entirely excluded. Furthermore, outdated council structures anchored in defunct ministry frameworks failed to reflect contemporary governance realities.
?Executive leadership pushes transition from crisis management to unity
?Under the restructured framework, the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation will provide the secretariat to enhance administrative efficiency and inter-agency coordination.
?Vice President Kashim Shettima, who chairs the NAC, convened key public and private sector stakeholders to launch the revamped system. He urged the council to move away from reactive crisis management and operate as a unified entity to establish a standardised addressing architecture for the country.
?Addressing the council, Vice President Shettima charged members to build a platform that simplifies location tracking for every community, supports commerce without administrative barriers, and strengthens governance without compromising citizen privacy.
?’Our objective should be simple: wherever a citizen lives, wherever a business operates, wherever help is required, Nigeria should find the address. This is the standard before us, and I am confident that the council will deliver,’ Senator Shettima noted.
?He added: ‘An address is more than just a description of where a person lives or where a business operates. It is a point of connection between the citizen and the state, between enterprise and opportunity, and between identity and service. A country that cannot consistently locate its people and businesses carries an avoidable weakness into planning, commerce, security, and social protection.’
?He warned that geography must never result in economic invisibility, emphasising that every Nigerian household and legitimate enterprise should be identifiable within a trusted national matrix.
?’Our digital addressing framework must connect intelligently with other digital identity registries, government databases, and wider digital public infrastructure,’ Vice President Shettima stated. ‘When a verified identity can be linked securely to a verified address, the gains extend across financial inclusion, social interventions, logistics, planning, and emergency response.’
?Clear institutional mandates assigned across government tiers
?The Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, serving as the council’s secretariat, will guide technical implementation, systems integration, interoperability, and technical standards.
?Within the collaborative network, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) carries essential responsibility for individual address verification and authentication, whilst the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) will verify business addresses. The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) remains central to postcode administration and physical postal infrastructure.
?Implementation at the grass-roots level will rely on state and local governments operating through the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON). Simultaneously, bodies including the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and the Organized Private Sector (OPS) will align their respective mandates to support the rollout.
?Cabinet ministers and industry leaders endorse structural overhaul
?Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo assured stakeholders that executive leadership under the Vice President would secure measurable outcomes and lay a firm foundation for broader economic expansion. He highlighted that a functional addressing system is fundamental to unlocking the potential of Nigerian entrepreneurs and restoring foreign investor confidence.
?’If news of this initiative spreads, it will generate significant investor interest, signalling that it is no longer business as usual, but business unusual,’ Minister Tunji-Ojo added.
?Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Kingsley Udeh stated that the Vice President’s leadership is steering the council away from fragmented crisis management towards harmonious inter-agency collaboration, resolving long-standing coordination challenges.
?Echoing these sentiments, NIMC Director-General Abisoye Coker-Odusote identified historical inter-agency disagreements as a primary bottleneck and commended the presidency for successfully harmonising stakeholder operations.
?ALGON President Bello Lawal noted that the initiative will enhance national security, refine citizen identification, deepen financial inclusion, and improve local-level spatial planning and revenue generation.
?The meeting drew key leadership across sectors, including NDPC Chief Executive Officer Vincent Olatunji; NITDA Director-General Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi; NGF Director-General Abdullateef Shittu; PalmPay Managing Director Chika Reginald Nwosu, representing the Fintech Association of Nigeria; OPay Managing Director Maxwell Loko; OPay Vice President Olabode James; and Digital Addressing Platform Managing Director Olusola Ayoola.