NIMC to waive N28,574 NIN DOB correction fee if error committed by its officer

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has explained that the new price for the date of birth (DOB) modification on the NIN database will be waived, provided the error to be corrected was caused by an enrollment officer.

According to a statement by the commission’s Head of Legal Regulatory Compliance Service Department, Festus Esangbedo, the commission noted that the DOB correction, which was recently increased by 75% to N28,574, will be made free if the error is committed by the commission.

The letter comes in response to a public demand by the Data Privacy Lawyers Association (DPLAN), which recently demanded the Commission’s compliance with the Nigerian Data Protection Laws in line with activities such as DOB modification fees on the NIN database. 

While responding to the demand, NIMC noted that when errors are made due to the commission’s fault or by an enrollment agent during the capturing stage, the Commission will provide necessary modifications free of charge. 

“The fees represent legitimate charges for modification services, not error corrections. Where errors are attributable to NIMC, we provide free remediation,” it stated.

In addition, Esangbedo expressed that the provision aligns with the Commission’s obligations under the Nigerian Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023. He clarified that the self-service modification system, being orchestrated by the commission, includes multiple verification steps for attestation, including the National Population Commission (NPC) certificate number, which auto-fills the DOB field, and reviews all information before final submission.

“The Commission applies a fault-based approach: errors attributable to NIMC or its agents are corrected free of charge, while modifications requested by applicants based on new documentation are subject to fees. Thus, the fee of N28,574 applies exclusively to voluntary modifications initiated by applicants after initial registration. This is a value-added service for individuals seeking to update their DOB based on new documentation, not for correcting NIMC errors,” he said.

Esangbedo noted that the modification fees are important to maintain service quality and prevent fraudulent modifications on the Commission’s portal. 

Also Read: NIMC increases NIN Date of Birth modification fee by 75% to N28,750 and others by 31%.

NIMC DOB modification: what happened

Following the release of the modification price adjustment by NIMC in May, the Director of Policy at DPLAN, Barrister Oladipupo Ige, complained that the Commission did not clarify the waiver consideration for DOB corrections as stipulated in the recognised data laws.

He noted that NIMC’s fee increase for DOB correction aims to charge everyone regardless of who caused the error, which would contradict the law if every citizen pays N28,574 for corrections due to NIMC’s fault. The DPLAN Director highlighted that while the Commission can charge fees and make adjustments, it cannot charge for data rectifications that are not the citizen’s fault.

According to Article 36, Section 4 of the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDP ACT) 2023 General Application and Implementation Directive (GAID) 2025, it states that if data rectification is to correct an error made by a data agent in inputting personal data, the citizen will not be required to pay for the data modification. 

“Where data rectification is for the purpose of correcting an error made by a data controller or a data processor in inputting the personal data of a data subject, the data subject shall not be required to pay in order to correct an error which is not his or her fault. Accordingly, it is important to ensure that a data subject is provided with manifestly ample opportunity to verify his or her data before such data is submitted in a permanent format,” it reads.

While the section stressed that a citizen must be allowed to verify their data before being submitted, it also mentioned that in case there’s a dispute as to whether a data subject was provided with manifestly ample opportunity to verify his or her personal data before being submitted in a permanent format, the data controller or data processor shall provide the evidence of the manifestly ample opportunity.

Earlier in May, NIMC increased the NIN DOB modification fee on its portal to N28,750 from N16,340, representing a 75% hike. It noted that the adjustment is to ensure alignment with current operational costs and industry standards. 

Among the new price adjustments is a 31 per cent increment on any other field modifications aside from DOB, such as names, addresses, and phone numbers, among others. The fee, which previously cost N1,522, now costs N2,000 per transaction. While the enrollment and issuance of the NIN slip is free, NIMC noted that the NIN slip re-issuance now costs N600, up from N500