DOB changes to cost N28,574 - NIMC

National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has clarified that Nigerians will not be required to pay the new N28,574 fee for correcting their date of birth (DOB) on the National Identification Number (NIN) database records if the error originated from the commission or its agents during registration.

This clarification follows public concern and legal scrutiny by the Data Privacy Lawyers Association of Nigeria (DPLAN), which accused NIMC of attempting to impose the increased fee on all applicants, regardless of fault.

The new charge, representing a 75 per cent hike from the previous N16,340, was part of a revised price list released on May 10.

Head of NIMC’s Legal Regulatory Compliance Service Department, Festus Esangbedo, in a letter, confirmed that the N28,574 fee applies solely to voluntary DOB changes initiated by individuals presenting new documentation, and does not cover corrections for errors made by the commission or its agents.

“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,” Esangbedo said.

He explained that NIMC’s current self-service system includes multiple verification stages to minimise registration errors. These, he said, includes automated validation of the National Population Commission (NPC) birth certificate number, which auto-fills the DOB field, and a final review screen for applicants to confirm all data before submission.