The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, has announced that Nigeria’s GIS-enabled alphanumeric digital postcode system will be fully launched by October 2026, marking a major step in the country’s push to modernise its national addressing infrastructure.
He disclosed this on Monday at the National Digital Alphanumeric Postcode System Workshop themed “Operationalising the Nigerian Digital Postcode for National Security and Public Safety,” organised in collaboration with the Nigerian Postal Service (Nigerian Postal Service) in Abuja.
The workshop brought together representatives of security and law enforcement agencies, emergency response institutions, government ministries, departments and agencies, as well as development partners, to explore how the new digital postcode system can be integrated into national operations and public service delivery.
Dr. Tijani explained that the new system would assign every building in Nigeria a unique alphanumeric code, including properties in rural communities, as part of a nationwide digital mapping effort.
“The first set of locations, areas, and states will be released in October this year, and I am pushing them hard to ensure that we cover a significant number of states before the end of the year,” he said.
He described the Nigerian Digital Postcode System as a foundational element of the country’s Digital Public Infrastructure, stressing that it would support a more efficient and connected governance framework.
The Minister said the Federal Government remains committed to integrating the system across public institutions as part of efforts to build a modern and globally competitive digital economy.
He added that the innovation would transform how Nigeria manages security, emergency response, logistics and national planning.
“The future we are building is one where every incident, every facility, every operation, and every response in Nigeria is anchored on a single, trusted location layer. When that happens, coordination becomes instantaneous, accountability becomes traceable, and response becomes precise,” he said.
In her remarks, the Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Postal Service, Tola Odeyemi, said Nigeria’s long-standing challenges with inconsistent addressing systems have affected emergency response, investigations, intelligence gathering and service delivery.
She said the new Digital Alphanumeric Postcode System would create a unified location intelligence framework by assigning every location in the country a unique, GIS-enabled code that can be verified across institutions and systems.
“The Digital Postcode provides trusted location intelligence, the critical layer that allows people, assets, services, and institutions to be accurately located and connected. For our security and law enforcement agencies, the possibilities are transformative,” she said.
Odeyemi, however, stressed that the success of the initiative would depend not only on technology but also on widespread adoption, urging stakeholders to move from awareness to implementation.
In March this year, the Federal Executive Council approved the implementation of a GIS-enabled alphanumeric postcode system aimed at modernising Nigeria’s national addressing framework.
The Minister, Dr. Tijani, had previously announced the approval, noting that the initiative is designed to strengthen location data infrastructure across the country.
Nigeria currently operates a numeric postal code system managed by the Nigerian Postal Service, where regions and delivery zones are identified using six-digit codes such as 100001 for Lagos Island. While useful for mail sorting and routing, the system has long faced challenges due to incomplete street naming, lack of house numbering, and limited geospatial accuracy in many areas.
The new GIS-enabled system is expected to resolve these gaps by assigning precise digital identifiers to every property, improving logistics, e-commerce delivery, emergency response and other services that rely on accurate location data.
The Nigerian Postal Service has in recent years intensified efforts to reposition itself as a digitally driven and revenue-generating institution.
It has expanded into financial services using renewed International Money Transfer Operator (IMTO) and Super Agent licences, while also partnering with fintech and logistics firms to improve parcel tracking and cross-border delivery services.
These reforms are part of broader efforts to modernise postal operations and strengthen Nigeria’s participation in the growing digital economy.
Boluwatife Enome
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