As of March 1, 2024, approximately 85.51 million bank customers are at risk of being unable to withdraw funds from their accounts due to their failure to link their National Identification Numbers (NINs) and/or Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs), according to investigations by LEADERSHIP.

Data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) indicates that Nigeria had 146 million active individual bank customers as of December 2022. The BVN count on the NIBSS portal as of January 26, 2024, was 60.49 million, while the number of issued NINs stood at about 104 million as of December 2023.

With only 24 hours remaining until the March 1, 2024 deadline set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for customers to link their BVNs and/or National Identity Numbers to their bank accounts and wallets, Nigerians are expressing concerns about the challenges in verifying their NINs with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

The CBN has directed banks to limit transactions on accounts without linked NINs and BVNs starting March 1, 2024. On December 1, 2023, the CBN declared that accounts lacking both NIN and BVN would be designated as ‘Post no Debit.’ A circular detailing this directive was sent to all deposit money banks by the apex bank, emphasizing that having a BVN and/or NIN is mandatory for all Tier-1 bank accounts and wallets, and it is also required for Tiers 2 and 3 accounts, as well as individual wallets.