Abisoye Coker-Odusote, Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), has joined President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 campaign team as Director of Data Management, raising questions about the separation of public institutions from partisan politics.
Coker-Odusote was listed among members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) 2027 Presidential Campaign Council unveiled on August 22 by Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy.
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), was named her deputy in the same directorate.
The development has attracted attention because NIMC is responsible for Nigeria’s National Identity Database, which contains the biometric and personal information of millions of Nigerians.
As the head of NIMC, Coker-Odusote is responsible for an institution that handles some of the country’s most sensitive personal data. Her new role, however, places her in charge of data management for the ruling party’s campaign ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The appointment comes at a time when NIMC is working with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to integrate National Identification Numbers (NINs) into the voter registration process.
The collaboration is intended to strengthen the identification and verification of eligible voters, reduce duplicate registrations and improve the accuracy of the voters’ register.
By linking voter registration with the NIN system, the agencies could develop mechanisms for confirming the identity of applicants during continuous voter registration.
The collaboration followed President Bola Tinubu’s assent to the NIMC Act in June 2026.
The integration, however, involves sensitive personal information. NIN records can contain names, dates of birth, addresses, photographs, fingerprints and other biometric details.
There is currently no publicly verified evidence that NIMC has given the APC access to the National Identity Database or that citizens’ NIN information has been transferred to the party’s campaign structure.
Claims circulating online suggesting that NIN data has already been placed at the APC’s disposal have not been independently verified.
Before her appointment as NIMC director-general in 2023, Coker-Odusote served as the APC’s National Database Project Director.
