Nigeria’s new identity law could complicate the passage of a long-awaited digital economy bill, with both frameworks covering digital identity and electronic signatures and potentially creating overlapping rules for businesses and government agencies.
Under the NIMC Act 2026, which replaced the 2007 Act, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) is now Nigeria’s Root Certification Authority (Root CA). The designation puts NIMC at the centre of Nigeria’s digital trust infrastructure, with responsibility for issuing root digital certificates, verifying electronic identities and overseeing the trust framework for digital signatures linked to the National Identification Number (NIN).
A digital signature is a mathematical method for verifying that a digital document, email or message is authentic, has not been altered and was signed by the person claiming to have signed it.
The National Digital Economy and E-Governance Bill, however, focuses on the legal validity of electronic signatures. It explains when an electronic signature can satisfy a legal signature requirement and establishes standards for digital signatures, including identity verification, sole control by the signer, data integrity, and the ability to detect subsequent changes.
The NIMC Act makes NIMC the Root Certification Authority, while the E-Governance Bill empowers the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the country’s tech regulator, to regulate and accredit electronic signature Certification Authorities, creating a potential overlap in their mandates.
Both laws seek to establish the foundation for digital signatures, identity verification, and paperless government services, but their overlapping mandates could create uncertainty over who ultimately controls key parts of Nigeria’s digital trust infrastructure.
“The Act is operational at the moment; it has been passed by the President, and that is the law we have now,” a NIMC spokesperson told TechCabal via text on Wednesday. “The other one, or any other bill coming up, the National Assembly will have to take a closer look and do the needful.”
Without clear alignment between the NIMC Act and the Digital Economy Bill, government agencies, regulators, banks, and technology companies may have to comply with overlapping rules, slowing the rollout of secure digital services as they await clearer guidance, according to policy experts.
“Ideally, this should have been spotted by the legal drafting unit at the National Assembly, but with what happened with the tax bill, I’m not surprised,” said Adeboye Adegoke, a digital rights and policy expert. “Bills are supposed to be reviewed to avoid clashes with existing laws. It’s not normal for new laws to conflict or duplicate provisions in existing laws without first amending the existing one.”
The Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy did not respond to requests for comments.
NIMC as Nigeria’s digital trust infrastructure
One of the most significant changes introduced by the NIMC Act 2026 is the commission’s formal designation as Nigeria’s Root Certification Authority (RCA) and Issuing Authority for the National Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).
The RCA is one of the most critical components of any country’s digital infrastructure.
In a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), a system that helps people and organisations verify identities and secure digital communications, the RCA sits at the top of a chain of trust used to verify digital identities. It rarely interacts directly with citizens. Instead, it authorises intermediate certification authorities, which then issue digital certificates used by government agencies, banks, businesses and individuals.
Whenever a digital signature is verified, systems trace that signature back through this chain until they reach the RCA. If the root authority is trusted, the entire transaction is considered authentic.
Rather than merely recognising electronic signatures, the NIMC Act establishes the technical and legal architecture that allows them to function. Per Section 7(k), NIMC is responsible for validating the cryptographic certificates that underpin digital signatures, secure online transactions, digital certificates, and identity verification across government and the private sector.
The role makes NIMC the national “trust anchor” for Nigeria’s digital economy. Every authorised government agency, financial institution, or private organisation issuing trusted digital certificates would ultimately derive its authority from NIMC’s root cryptographic keys.
In practice, this means NIMC is no longer only an identity management agency but also the institution responsible for securing the country’s digital authentication infrastructure.
Significant overlap with the Digital Economy Bill
The Digital Economy and E-Governance Bill already contains detailed provisions governing electronic signatures and digital government services.
Section 16(1) requires digital signatures used in government and commercial transactions to be linked directly to an individual’s National Identification Number (NIN), with identity verification conducted through secure APIs connected to NIMC’s identity database.
The bill also gives qualifying electronic signatures the same legal validity as handwritten signatures, provided they are uniquely linked to the signer, remain under the user’s sole control, and can be detected as subsequent alterations.
“In any proceedings involving a digital signature, it shall be presumed, unless evidence to the contrary is adduced, that– (a) the digital signature is the signature of the person to whom it correlates; and (b) the digital signature was axed by that person with the intention of signing or approving the electronic record,” the bill stated in section 18.
Sections 44, 45 and 46 seek to make Nigerian public administration paperless by requiring ministries, departments, and agencies to issue, receive, and store official records electronically while relying on digital signatures for authentication.
Many of these objectives are now reinforced—or arguably pre-empted—by the new NIMC Act.
By establishing the national Public Key Infrastructure, reaffirming the NIN as the country’s foundational identity under the “One Person, One Identity” framework, and empowering NIMC to build secure data-sharing systems across public institutions, the Act already creates much of the infrastructure needed for the Digital Economy Bill to function.
A bill years in the making
The National Digital Economy and E-Governance Bill has undergone an extensive legislative process.
The proposal was first introduced in July 2024 by Adedeji Dhikrullahi Olajide, Chairman of the House Committee on Digital and Information Technology.
Following consultations with technology companies, civil society organisations and government agencies, lawmakers have revised the bill to align with broader digital infrastructure projects, including Nigeria’s nationwide fibre rollout, according to the Ministry of Communication, Innovation, and Digital Economy.
At a joint National Assembly public hearing on November 10, 2025, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy Bosun Tijani said the legislation had completed major stakeholder reviews and was expected to proceed through harmonisation before being transmitted to President Bola Tinubu for assent.
By May 2026, the bill had been approved by the House of Representatives and was awaiting consideration by the Senate.
However, the enactment of the NIMC Act before the bill’s final passage has introduced new legal considerations that lawmakers may need to resolve.
“This is now law, so it goes ahead of the Digital Economy bill — which will now need to be revised,” ‘Gbenga Sesan, executive director, Paradigm Initiative, a pan-African social enterprise that connects underserved people-groups with ICT-enabled opportunities, told TechCabal. “NIMC is with another Ministry, so it’s clear they were not exchanging notes.”
Lessons from other African countries
Nigeria’s evolving framework also differs from digital signature governance models adopted elsewhere on the continent.
In Kenya, the Communications Authority licences electronic certification providers, while the ICT Authority operates the government’s certification infrastructure. South Africa relies on an Accreditation Authority under its Department of Communications and Digital Technologies to certify advanced electronic signatures.
Egypt assigns similar responsibilities to the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), which licences trusted certification providers while operating the government’s certification authority.
All three countries rely on Public Key Infrastructure, but oversight rests with specialised technology regulators rather than national identity agencies.
Nigeria’s decision to position NIMC as both the national identity authority and Root Certification Authority creates a more centralised governance model, one that could simplify implementation but also increase the importance of ensuring legal clarity across overlapping digital economy laws.
Until those overlaps are addressed, the country’s flagship Digital Economy Bill may face another round of legislative scrutiny before becoming law.
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