NIMC Director-General Dodges Arrest As House OF Representatives’ Move Crumbles

On February 12, 2025, the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions, led by Mike Etaba, warned of an arrest warrant against Coker-Odusote after her alleged breach of a software development license agreement with Truid Limited. Despite being invited to a hearing on March 13, 2025, Coker-Odusote, who was appointed by President Bola Tinubu in 2023, reportedly ignored the committee’s summons.

The committee had been investigating an agreement where Truid Limited financed, developed, and deployed a tokenisation system for NIMC, without financial support from the commission. In exchange, Truid Limited was to recover its investment through service provider patronage, with the proceeds split according to a predetermined ratio.

E.R. Opara, legal counsel for Truid Limited, stated that the agreement, which began in 2021, was meant to last for 10 years. However, Opara accused Coker-Odusote of attempting to terminate the agreement soon after her appointment, which led to the ongoing dispute.

Etaba, frustrated by Coker-Odusote’s defiance, had warned that if she failed to attend the hearing, the committee would have no choice but to request the Inspector-General of Police to arrest her. He expressed, “How can an official of government treat constituted authority with such disregard? We can no longer condone this behavior.”

Over two weeks after the scheduled hearing, it was revealed that Coker-Odusote still has not responded to the invitation. The committee has yet to secure an arrest warrant for her.

The NIMC tokenisation system, launched on December 22, 2021, was introduced by the federal government to enhance the privacy and security of personal information during verification transactions. It was also intended to curb the illegal retrieval, transfer, and storage of National Identity Number (NIN) data.

In September 2021, former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, announced the approval of ₦25 billion by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to upgrade NIMC’s identity infrastructure.