By Abubakar Muhammad Usman
Ismail Sani Muhammad had already mapped out his future. After secondary school in Kano, he planned to sit for the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), secure admission into a university, and take the next step in his education.
Instead, a problem buried inside Nigeria’s digital identity system changed everything.
Despite obtaining a National Identification Number (NIN) and making repeated efforts to resolve verification issues, Muhammad could not generate the profile code required by the JAMB to register for the examination.
“I went to the NIMC headquarters in Kano and they told me the issue had been corrected,” he told WikkiTimes.
“But I still could not generate my JAMB profile.”
After weeks of unsuccessful attempts, he gave up on writing the exam altogether.
“In the end, I enrolled for a Pre-ND programme at Kano State Polytechnic,” he said quietly.
Unable to register for the examination, Auwal eventually enrolled in a Pre-ND programme at Kano State Polytechnic under a state government waiver aimed at encouraging access to higher education.
He said students admitted through the arrangement are allowed to commence studies without immediately providing JAMB records but are expected to regularize their admission and obtain a JAMB number before completing the programme.
For Muhammad, what should have been a routine academic transition became a turning point shaped not by academic performance, but by a government database that could not verify him, but his case is not isolated.
A WikkiTimes investigation across Kano, Katsina, and Bauchi states found that NIN-related verification failures are increasingly affecting candidates attempting to register for JAMB, raising questions about how Nigeria’s expanding digital identity infrastructure interacts with access to education.
The NIN system is one of Nigeria’s foundational Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) components. Managed by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), it serves as the country’s identity layer, supporting access to services across banking, telecommunications, social protection and education. As more public services become linked to NIN verification, the effectiveness of the identity system increasingly influences citizens’ ability to access opportunities and government services.
When a Number Becomes a Gatekeeper
In recent years, Nigeria has increasingly tied access to public services to the NIN as part of efforts to strengthen identity management and reduce fraud.
One of the most consequential integrations is between the NIN system and JAMB registration, where candidates must verify their identity before generating a profile code for the UTME registration.
According to JAMB, the integration of the National Identification Number into the registration process was introduced to eliminate multiple registrations, reduce impersonation and strengthen the integrity of the admissions process by ensuring that each candidate can be uniquely identified. Then JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, has previously stated that the policy also supports broader national efforts to improve citizen identification and security. But field interviews suggest it is also producing unintended exclusions.
In Kano, Maryam Muhammad Hassan, a senior secondary school student at Wamy International Academy, said she discovered the problem only when registration began.
“I was ready to register with my classmates, but the centre said my record could not be found on the NIN database,” she said.
She was not able to resolve the issue in time for the examination.
“I did not write the exam completely,” she said.
Another candidate, Muhammad Auwal, said he faced a similar challenge.
“I was told my NIN details could not be found. I was asked to go to NIMC, but I did not resolve it before the registration closed.”
In Katsina State, Danjuma Bala eventually corrected his records, but only after delays that affected his preparation.
“I printed my exam slip the night before the exam. I was already exhausted from trying to fix the problem.”
A Pattern Across Three States
Interviews with operators of JAMB-accredited Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres in Kano, Katsina, and Bauchi suggest that these cases are part of a recurring pattern during registration periods.
At the Wudil Computer Information Technology CBT Centre in Kano, administrator Muhammad Tukur Muhammad said NIN-related issues appear regularly.
“We often encounter NIN-related registration problems, especially during peak periods,” he said.
He listed common issues: mismatched names, incorrect dates of birth, wrong phone numbers, and OTP verification failures.
“Sometimes the system also goes down due to heavy traffic,” he added.
In Katsina, Muhammad Amin of BETI ICT and CBT Centre estimated that between five and ten candidates weekly experience similar challenges during registration seasons.
“Most issues are related to personal data errors like date of birth or state of origin,” he said. “Many are resolved after corrections, but not always on time.”
In Bauchi, Yassar Ilelah of Safuz ICT Hub described a more frequent error pattern.
“Almost every other day, candidates come with ‘No Record Found’ issues,” he said.
According to him, the presence of a NIMC agent at his centre has helped reduce delays, but not eliminated the problem.
Data Errors or System Failures?
Interviews conducted by WikkiTimes suggest that the challenges candidates face do not originate from a single source.
Some difficulties stem from inconsistencies in personal records such as names, dates of birth and phone numbers entered during NIN enrollment or later registration processes.
Others appear to involve technical verification challenges. CBT operators interviewed in Kano and Bauchi reported recurring cases where candidates with existing NINs received “No Record Found” messages or were unable to retrieve their details during registration.
While both situations can prevent candidates from completing registration, experts say they require different solutions. Data-entry errors often require record corrections, while verification failures may point to challenges in how connected systems retrieve or process identity information.
The Missing Piece: Data Education
Ahmed Ali, a cybersecurity expert, believes many of the challenges reflect a deeper issue beyond technical systems: limited public understanding of how digital identity data works and the long-term consequences of inconsistencies.
“People often do not realize that the information they provide during enrollment becomes the foundation for accessing multiple services later in life,” he said.
According to him, small inconsistencies in names, dates of birth, phone numbers, or spelling variations may appear harmless at the point of registration, but later become barriers when different systems attempt to match records exactly.
“What seems like a minor variation in spelling or a change in phone number can prevent successful verification when systems are designed to match data strictly across platforms,” he explained.
Ali added that strengthening digital infrastructure alone is not enough.
“As Nigeria expands its digital public infrastructure, there is a need for stronger public education on data consistency and identity management. Without that, many citizens will continue to face avoidable verification problems simply because they were not properly guided on how to maintain consistent records.”
The System Behind the Failure
At the centre of these repeated challenges is how different digital systems interact and how the quality of identity data affects that interaction. In Nigeria, JAMB relies on identity records stored in the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) database to verify candidates before generating examination profile codes. When there are discrepancies in key fields such as names, dates of birth, or phone numbers or when updates made in one system have not fully reflected in another verification can fail, preventing candidates from proceeding with registration. In some cases, candidates report that their records cannot be retrieved at all, raising concerns about delays in data synchronization and system connectivity between problems.
Not All Problems Are Technical — JAMB
Officials at JAMB acknowledge that candidates experience difficulties, but argue that not all failures originate from system errors.
Nuhu Suleiman, a staff member at the JAMB office in Kano, said some issues are caused by candidates themselves.
“Sometimes a candidate may have already generated a profile code but continues trying to create another one,” he said.
He added that inconsistencies in personal data remain a major issue.
“A candidate may have been using two names but registers three names for JAMB,” he explained.
According to him, such discrepancies often trigger verification failures that block registration.
“If the problem is from JAMB, we resolve it. If it is from NIN, we refer them to NIMC,” he said.
Another CBT operator, Hamisu Yahuza of A.A CBT Centre in Kano, however, argued that most problems originate from identity records.
“JAMB only uses what is in the NIN database,” he said. “If there is an issue there, the system will not generate a profile.”
The Human Cost of System Integration
Expert says the issue reflects a broader challenge in Nigeria’s digital public infrastructure.
Sulaiman Abubakar, an educational and digital systems analyst, warned that linking identity systems to high-stakes services such as examinations carries significant risks.
“A student may miss an examination not because they are attempting to cheat, but because the system fails to recognize them due to a database mismatch or technical error,” he said.
He added that inconsistencies in identity data, particularly names and dates of birth can disproportionately affect legitimate candidates.
“Small variations in records can block access entirely,” he noted.
Abubakar also highlighted structural inequality in access.
“Students in rural communities often face additional challenges because they must travel long distances to resolve identity issues.”
He described the situation as a design problem in digital governance rather than isolated errors.
Corrections, Delays, and System Strain
The frequency of identity-related errors has also contributed to a growing demand for corrections within the NIN system.
NIMC has repeatedly warned Nigerians against unofficial platforms offering data correction services, urging citizens to use only approved channels.
The existence of such correction systems reflects the scale of inconsistencies in identity records across the country.
NIMC Advises Corrections Through Official Channels
Although NIMC did not respond to specific questions sent by WikkiTimes before publication, the commission has repeatedly advised Nigerians experiencing identity-related issues to use approved modification channels to update their records.
Through its self-service and enrollment platforms, NIMC allows corrections involving names, dates of birth, phone numbers and other personal information commonly associated with verification challenges.
However, for candidates facing registration deadlines, delays in correcting identity records can still have significant consequences.
When a Number Decides the Future
For experts, linking identity systems to education is intended to improve efficiency, strengthen security, and reduce examination malpractice. But for students like Ismail Sani Muhammad, the consequences are more personal.
A missing record or unresolved mismatch can mean losing an entire academic year or abandoning an educational path altogether.
As Nigeria expands its digital public infrastructure, experts argue that success should not be measured only by enrollment numbers, but by whether the system works reliably across institutions without excluding those it is meant to serve.
For Muhammad, that promise remains incomplete. He is still unsure whether the issue that blocked his JAMB registration has been resolved. What he knows is an opportunity he prepared for, studied for, and qualified for disappeared inside a system that could not recognize him.
Experts say beyond system integration and technical limitations, improving data literacy among citizens is essential to reducing identity-related exclusion, particularly as more public services become linked to digital identity verification.
This report is produced under the DPI Africa Journalism Fellowship Programme of the Media Foundation for West Africa and Co-Develop
