By Adetutu Audu

Ayotunde Bally, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Proximaforte Ltd, has called on the Nigerian government to establish a National Residents Registration Agency, arguing that the country’s existing identity systems fall critically short of what is needed to address security, housing, and economic planning challenges.

The recent events in Oyo State have sparked an important conversation about the responsibilities of landlords and property owners. Many people are asking whether landlords should know more about who is living in their properties and whether stricter tenant verification can help reduce criminal activities.

The Proximaforte CEO shared his views on the fact that while landlords have a responsibility to conduct reasonable due diligence, the bigger issue is that Nigeria lacks a comprehensive system for tracking residency and internal migration.

Today, we have NIN, BVN, voter registration, passports, and driver’s licences. These systems help us identify people, but they do not tell us where people currently live, where they have previously lived, where they work, or how frequently they move from one location to another.

Mr. Ayotunde Bally stated that he strongly believe that one of the most important institutions Nigeria needs is a National Residents Registration Agency (NRRA).
The purpose of the NRRA would not be to replace NIN or any existing identity system. Rather, it would create a dynamic residency database that tracks where residents live, work, study, and relocate within the country. Unlike NIN, which is largely static, residency information must be continuously updated to reflect reality.

Under such a system, every resident would have an NRRA number linked to their NIN. Landlords would register tenants, employers would update employment records, and residents would be required to update their information whenever they change addresses. This would provide Nigeria with an accurate and constantly evolving picture of its population distribution and internal migration patterns.

For landlords, this would significantly improve tenant verification. Before renting out a property, a landlord could verify residency history, previous addresses, employment status, and other relevant information. This would reduce the risk of renting to individuals using false identities or concealing their backgrounds.

For the government, it would provide accurate data for planning housing, healthcare, education, transportation, and social intervention programmes.
For security agencies, it would make it far more difficult for criminals to operate anonymously by constantly moving between communities without leaving a traceable residency record.

He also added that tenancy registration should become mandatory nationwide. Every tenancy agreement should be digitally registered and linked to the resident’s NRRA number. This would protect landlords, tenants, and communities alike.

Beyond security and housing management, an NRRA could also strengthen Nigeria’s credit ecosystem. Rent is one of the largest recurring expenses for most Nigerians, yet years of consistent rent payments currently contribute little to an individual’s credit profile.

A verified tenancy and payment history would provide lenders with additional data to assess creditworthiness, while giving financially responsible Nigerians greater access to affordable credit. This would expand financial inclusion, improve lending decisions, and deepen trust within the economy.

Of course, privacy rights must be respected. The objective is not surveillance; it is accountability. Access to personal information must be strictly regulated and limited to authorised purposes.

The truth is that many landlords currently do not have the tools to properly verify or monitor tenants beyond collecting rent. Rather than placing all responsibility on landlords, Nigeria should build the systems that make proper verification possible.

The question is not simply whether landlords know who is living in their properties. The real question is whether Nigeria has the infrastructure to know where its residents live, work, and move over time.

Until we solve that problem, we will continue to face challenges in security, housing management, economic planning, and social service delivery.

In conclusion he stated that a National Residents Registration Agency is the missing piece in Nigeria’s identity, security, and development architecture.