The federal government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Cooperative Federation of Nigeria (CFN) and Seamfix Ltd. to deploy Nigeria’s National Cooperative Identity, Trust and Digital Governance Infrastructure.

Marcus Ogunbiyi, permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS), signed the agreement on behalf of the ministry on Wednesday in Abuja.

The signing took place at the National Technical Workshop on Cooperative Sector Digitalisation.

Aliyu Abdullahi, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security and Supervising Minister of Cooperative Affairs, said the agreement marked a new phase of visibility, accountability and digital governance for Nigeria’s cooperative sector.

He said the MoU marked the transition from demonstration to implementation under the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme (RH-CRRP) 2030.

According to him, the agreement was executed under the Public-Private-People Partnership (4Ps) model of the programme.

Mr Abdullahi said existing cooperatives would undergo verification and authentication by their respective State Departments of Cooperatives before being onboarded onto the National Cooperative Smart Registry (NCSR).

He said verified cooperatives would receive a Cooperative Verification Number (CVN), while members would progressively receive Cooperative Member Identification Numbers (CoopID).

The minister said the NCSR, CVN and CoopID would form the foundation of the National Cooperative Digital Architecture Platform (NCDAP).

He said the system would address longstanding identity and data gaps, enabling the government to identify genuine cooperatives, track interventions and measure their impact.

A verified CVN, he added, would serve as a trusted credential for cooperatives seeking government interventions, bank loans, contracts and partnerships.

The platform would also integrate with CoopCHECK, a cooperative credit bureau, to improve credit profiling and lending, while extending access through USSD and feature phones for rural cooperators.

“The objective is: one genuine cooperative, one verifiable CVN; one cooperative member, one verifiable CoopID,” he said.

Mr Abdullahi said digital verification would strengthen compliance with Section 54 of the Cooperative Societies Act, especially against the illegal use of the name “Co-operative”.

He also called for the harmonisation of ongoing reviews of the Nigerian Cooperative Societies Act to produce a new bill for repeal and re-enactment.

The proposed legislation, he said, would recognise digital registration, electronic records, identity, data governance and financial technology.

He said the ministry would work with CFN, the National Assembly, State Houses of Assembly and other relevant institutions to develop a modern legal framework for the sector.

Mr Ogunbiyi said FMAFS would provide institutional coordination and stakeholder engagement support required for implementation, subject to the terms of the MoU.

He said Seamfix would deploy, operate, maintain and support the initial phase covering cooperative registration, validation and identity administration.

Ogunbiyi said the state directors of cooperatives would implement the digital tools at the state level, while the project would eventually establish a nationwide cooperative identity and digital trust ecosystem.

Frank Atune, executive director, Seamfix Ltd., said the CVN would provide every registered cooperative with a verified national identity.

He said the CoopID would give individual cooperators an identity linked to their societies and integrated with the national identity infrastructure.

Mr Atune said the system would improve access to government programmes, regulatory support, development partnerships and credit for verified cooperatives. 

(NAN)