Published: June 17, 2025
MONROVIA, Liberia – The government of Liberia has extended the deadline for mandatory national identification card registration from August 1 to August 31, 2025, in response to overwhelming public demand and processing delays across the country.
The announcement was made Monday, June 16, by Andrew Peters, Executive Director of the National Identification Registry (NIR), during a press conference in Monrovia. Peters said the extension was necessary due to the massive turnout of citizens seeking to comply with Executive Order No. 147, which mandates the possession of a valid national ID card to access government and private services, including banking.
“The extension is to accommodate the large number of citizens complying with the government’s mandate,” Peters said. “We are now recruiting young Liberians as contractors to work across all 15 counties.”
President Joseph Nyuma Boakai issued the executive order on April 14, linking the national ID system to citizens’ SIM card registrations. In response to the delays, the Central Bank of Liberia has directed all commercial banks to temporarily accept any valid form of identification—whether NIR-issued or not—until the new deadline.
To handle the growing demand, Peters announced that the NIR plans to establish more than 100 registration centers nationwide. He said the expansion would depend on citizen cooperation and is expected to create both temporary and permanent employment opportunities.
Peters also revealed that the NIR is finalizing a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Elections Commission (NEC) to use existing voting precincts for registration activities. The data collected by NIR will eventually be used by NEC to verify voter identity in future elections.
“This collaboration ensures that during the election process, NEC can use our data to verify the existence or nonexistence of individuals,” Peters said.
He noted that the 2023 general elections highlighted the need for a robust identification system, which is why President Boakai committed in his first State of the Nation Address to strengthening the NIR’s mandate to register all citizens and legal foreign residents.
Addressing public concerns about ID duplication, Peters dismissed reports of fraudulent cards being issued in Monrovia’s World Trade Center area.
“Those individuals involved are wasting their time,” he said. “Those duplicated cards cannot be used anywhere for transactions.”
He added that financial institutions are now fully integrated with the Know Your Customer (KYC) system, and that NIR is deploying secure application programming interfaces (APIs) to allow authorized institutions to access verified data.
Peters also confirmed that the NIR is holding consultations with service providers to enhance the features of the national ID cards. However, he emphasized that the accuracy and authenticity of the data is more important than visual design.
“The features of the cards are not what matters most—it’s the verifiable and authentic information the card contains,” he said.
Looking to the future, Peters said the government plans to build a comprehensive database of all foreign nationals residing in Liberia by 2028. This will include individuals from countries such as Ghana and the United States.
“You will want him [President Boakai] to break it down into their ages—this president will do it,” Peters said.
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