Who we check
One adult. One ID number. Three ways to get there.
Your home does not need to show ID for everyone in it. We need one adult. And if that is not possible, there is a clear route that keeps your home on the register.
Route 01 · First choice
The head of the home, first.
Is the head of your home 18 or over, and at home? Then that is the person we check. The officer’s device asks for them first. It is not left to the officer to choose.
What is needed
One ID number — your NIN or your BVN
You do not need both. One is enough. If you have a NIN (your National Identification Number), please use that one. A BVN (your Bank Verification Number) is just as good. An officer who asks you for both is breaking the rules.
And a photo
Taken there and then
One live photo of your face, taken inside the official app. It cannot be a picture from the officer’s phone gallery. The app cannot save it to the phone either.
And the answer
Comes from the office that gave you the ID
NIMC (the National Identity Management Commission) for a NIN. The approved bank channel for a BVN. The officer reads you the answer. They do not choose it, and they cannot change it.
Route 02 · Common
Another adult in the home.
Sometimes we cannot check the head of the home. Then we check a wife, a husband or another adult aged 18 or over. This is normal. It is not a problem. But the reason must come from an approved list, and a supervisor sees it.
We write down how you are related too. The officer needs both the link to the head of the home and the reason before they can send the check.
The approved reasons — this list, and nothing else
- 01
The head of the home is away
Travelling, working somewhere else, or simply not at home when the officer calls.
- 02
The head of the home has died
We write the death down, and we note who the family says should take over. We do not change the head on the spot. That needs approval.
- 03
The head of the home is too unwell
Too ill, too frail, or otherwise not able to take part in the check.
- 04
The head of the home has no NIN or BVN
Then we check another adult in the home who does have one.
- 05
The head of the home's ID did not come back clean
The details did not match, and a person is still looking at it. The case stays open. Your home is not left unchecked while that happens.
- 06
The head of the home is under 18
A home led by a child cannot be checked through its head. It goes to the special-case route.
- 07
Another approved reason
Written down clearly and seen by a supervisor. It is never used as a catch-all to dodge the list above.
No special case, ever
A child can never be the person we check.
Nobody under 18 can be the person we check. Not even a child who holds a NIN, a BVN or a voter card of their own. The officer’s device will not let them pick a child. The system behind it will not accept it either.
A home with no adult has not failed. It goes to the special-case route, and it stays on the register.
Route 03 · Kept anyway
If you have no NIN or BVN.
Some adults have no NIN and no BVN. You are not removed. Here is what happens instead.
The officer writes down why
They write down what stops you getting a NIN or a BVN. Nobody is removed. Your home is marked "ID check still waiting".
A voter card is written down, if you have one
It is supporting information only. It is not an ID check, and it does not change your status.
An adult who truly cannot get an ID
Very frail, disabled, or unable to travel. The officer writes down the reason and the proof we allow. Your home is kept on as a special case.
A home with only children in it
There is no adult to check. We do not treat the home as wrong, and we never put a child through the ID step.
What it does
Your home stays on the register. The Ward Verification Lead recommends the case. Someone independent, at Local Government Area or State level, approves it — never the officer who visited you.
What it is not
It is not an ID check. A home kept this way is never counted in the ID checked figure. We always report it on its own line.
And the door stays open. Get a NIN or a BVN later, and you can come back and be checked. That is a real route, not a favour. Use the report and correction form, and quote your reference number.
Questions families ask at the door.
- Does everyone in my home need a NIN?
- No. One adult, one ID number. Everyone else is written down as always — names, ages, how you are related, and who lives there. Nobody else has an ID check.
- The officer asked for both my NIN and my BVN. Is that right?
- No. You do not need both. One is enough, so asking for both is against the rules. Give one. Then report it using the report form.
- My 16-year-old has a NIN. Can we use hers?
- No. Nobody under 18 can be the person we check, whatever ID they hold. The officer's device will not let them pick her.
- My NIN check failed. Can I use my voter card instead?
- No. A voter card never counts as an ID check. The officer can write it down as supporting information, but your ID check stays waiting. A failed check goes to a person, who looks into it.
- Our date of birth is wrong on the register. What happens?
- We work out who is an adult from the date of birth on the register. So a wrong date can block an adult who should be allowed. Tell the officer. Changing a date of birth is written down with a reason. If your visit is already over, ask us to fix it.
- Nobody in our home has any ID at all.
- You stay on the register. The officer writes down the reason and the proof. The Ward Verification Lead recommends the case. Then someone independent, at Local Government Area or State level, approves it as a special case. You are kept. You are just not counted as ID checked, and we report those two numbers apart.
Whatever your situation, you stay on the register.
These routes exist so that no home is left out for the wrong reason. Were you told something different at your door? That was wrong, and we want to hear about it.