National Shame: SecretsReporter’s Investigation Reveals How Anyone Can Get Radio Nigeria Staff ID for ₦3,000 With Zero Checks

Secrets Reporters

At the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (Radio Nigeria), staff are working with expired identity cards, self-produced fakes, and inconsistent designs more than two years after the last official cards expired in 2023, exposing deep neglect, administrative failure, and serious security lapses at one of the country’s oldest public broadcasting institutions.

An investigation has revealed that the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, popularly known as Radio Nigeria, under the leadership of Dr. Mohammed Bulama, has failed to issue updated official identity cards to its staff since the last official cards expired in 2023.

Since then, staff of the agency have continued to work with expired ID cards or have been left to produce new ones by themselves. This means that workers in a federal government agency are being made to take personal responsibility for a document that should ordinarily be produced, controlled, and issued by the institution.

For any serious organisation, an identity card is not merely a badge. It is a symbol of authority. It is proof of employment. It is a security document. It tells the public who is genuine and who is not. It allows a staff member to enter offices, cover assignments, attend official events, and represent the institution in public spaces.

But at Radio Nigeria, that basic system has been weakened.

Findings showed that the agency currently has two different ID card designs in circulation. While many staff members still use the old design, others use a newer design. The old official ID cards expired in 2023, yet the agency has not provided a uniform replacement for all staff.

This has created confusion within the institution and raised serious questions about security. When a government agency allows staff members to make their own ID cards, it also creates room for outsiders to do the same. Anyone with basic design knowledge can reproduce a similar card, print it, wear it, and claim to be a staff member of Radio Nigeria.

This was tested during the investigation when one of our correspondents obtained a Radio Nigeria ID card for ₦3,000. During the process, it was discovered that Radio Nigeria had no official documentation system to identify or verify staff members. It was also discovered that there was no accessible database to confirm whether a staff number was genuine or fraudulent. 

Our correspondent was able to receive his own ID card using false information and photographs despite not being a staff member of the agency. The ID card that was issued to our correspondent was said to be the old ID card design, which, according to findings, is no longer in use. The updated one, although expired, was totally different from the one received by our correspondent; see images below: 

Above is images showing the front and back of the old ID card design paid for and received by our correspondent, with an expiry date of 2029 despite not being a staff member.

Above is a back-view image of a senior staff ID card, said to be the new ID card design, which expired long ago in 2023 and is still being used by their staff.

However, when this media house put a call across to the Director of Corporate Development & Communications, Osana Omame, to ask about the variant ID card in existence and about staff printing their ID cards by themselves, he noted that he is not aware of ID cards being printed outside, disclosing that the agency has only one ID card in use and it has a centralised issuance. He added that those ID cards that have been printed outside are not being authorised by the agency. He failed to clarify which is the authentic variant of the ID card in use among the two ID cards above.

In a country where impersonation, fraud, and insecurity remain serious concerns, this is not a small administrative failure. It is a dangerous gap.

Radio Nigeria is not an ordinary private organisation hidden in a corner. Its staff members cover government activities, national events, political functions, public ceremonies, and sensitive assignments. They interact with public officials, security personnel, communities, and institutions. Their identity cards open doors. Their identity cards create access. Their identity cards carry the name of the Nigerian state.