Kaduna State postal codes begin with 80 or 81. Kaduna head office is 800001, and the state’s codes run up to 812103.
800001 anchors postal region 8, which covers Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara. Kaduna city holds it because it was the capital of the old Northern Region, the administrative centre from which the entire north was governed, and the postal plan was numbered outward from there.
Kaduna State Postal Code at a Glance
| State capital | Kaduna |
|---|---|
| Head office code | 800001 |
| Code range | 800001 to 812103 |
| Dispatch prefixes | 800, 801, 802, 810, 811 |
| Local Government Areas | 23 |
| Postal region | Region 8 |
| Digits | Six, numeric only |
Reading a Kaduna State Code
Take 800001, the Kaduna head office code. The first digit, 8, puts the address in postal region 8. The first three digits, 800, name the dispatch district that sorts outgoing mail. The last three, 001, are the delivery location, and 001 always means the head office itself.
The same three part structure explains why codes inside one town look almost identical while codes from opposite ends of the state look unrelated. Two houses on the same street usually share all six digits, because they share a delivery round. Two houses in different towns rarely share more than the first three.
Every genuine Kaduna State code is built the same way, which gives you a quick test. If someone hands you a code for an address in Kaduna State and it does not begin with 80, it is not a Kaduna State code.
Dispatch Districts in Kaduna State
Four dispatch blocks serve the state. The 800, 801 and 802 blocks cover Kaduna city and the local governments around it. The 810 block reaches the rest of the state, including the southern Kaduna towns. The concentration reflects the state’s shape, since Kaduna city and Zaria together hold most of the population and nearly all of the institutional post.
| Dispatch prefix | Codes it issues |
|---|---|
| 800 | 800001 to 800999 |
| 801 | 801001 to 801999 |
| 802 | 802001 to 802999 |
| 810 | 810001 to 810999 |
| 811 | 811001 to 811999 |
The 23 Local Government Areas in Kaduna State
Kaduna has 23 local government areas, spread across a state that is culturally and geographically split between the northern half around Zaria and the southern half around Kafanchan.
| Birnin Gwari | Chikun | Giwa |
| Igabi | Ikara | Jaba |
| Jema’a | Kachia | Kaduna North |
| Kaduna South | Kagarko | Kajuru |
| Kaura | Kauru | Kubau |
| Kudan | Lere | Makarfi |
| Sabon Gari | Sanga | Soba |
| Zangon Kataf | Zaria |
What you will not find above is a code beside each name, and that is deliberate. NIPOST issues codes to delivery districts, not to local governments. Tables that pair the two are estimates, which is why published lists for Kaduna State contradict each other and sometimes contradict themselves.
Three Towns, Three Telephone Codes, One Postal Region
Kaduna is one of only two states in Nigeria with three separate telephone area codes: 02062 for Kaduna city, 02069 for Zaria and 02061 for Kafanchan. That is a useful signal about the postal geography too, because those three towns are the sorting anchors the rest of the state hangs off.
It also means people routinely mix up the two systems here. A Zaria landline code and a Zaria postal code have nothing in common, and quoting one where the other is wanted is a common error on forms.
Zaria, Ahmadu Bello University and Institutional Post
Zaria carries a volume of institutional mail out of proportion to its size, because Ahmadu Bello University is one of the largest campuses in Africa and sits alongside a cluster of federal institutions. Campus post runs on the usual Nigerian pattern, addressed to a department and a campus rather than to a district code, and the university operates its own internal distribution.
The military and federal presence across the state adds another layer. Institutions such as the Nigerian Defence Academy publish private mail bags, and post to them should use the bag exactly as published rather than a street address, because internal mail rooms are organised around the bag.
Southern Kaduna and the Kafanchan Junction
Kafanchan grew as a railway junction and still functions as the collection point for the southern local governments. The terrain there is hillier and the settlements more scattered than in the north of the state, so delivery districts cover more ground and the town name carries more of the address than the code does.
If you are sending to a village in southern Kaduna, name the nearest town with a post office, then the community. That is how the item will actually travel.
Post Office Boxes and Private Mail Bags in Kaduna State
A rented box belongs to one branch, so the branch name carries the address. Leave it out and the box number means nothing. A private mail bag works the same way but is issued to an organisation rather than an individual, which is why ministries, universities and large companies publish one instead of a street address.
The layout looks like this:
P.O. Box 1234 Kaduna Main Post Office 800001 Kaduna Nigeria
Two practical notes. A box address is often more reliable than a street address in Kaduna State, because it removes the guesswork about which delivery district covers you, and it survives you moving house. But couriers who deliver to the door, which is most of them, cannot deliver to a box at all, so keep a street address for anything that arrives by bike.
Codes Published for Kaduna State That Cannot Be Right
We tested the Kaduna State tables that circulate online for internal contradictions, meaning two local governments published with ranges that share the same numbers. Kaduna State shows none, which puts it among the cleaner states in the country.
That is worth something, but be careful what you read into it. Consistency is not accuracy. It means nobody has published two ranges that openly contradict each other for Kaduna State, not that NIPOST ever issued a code to a local government. The safe reading stands: treat block level information as solid and treat any single code attached to a local government as an estimate until your delivery office confirms it.
It is worth knowing how wrong codes get into circulation in the first place, because the same three routes explain almost every bad table online. The first is interpolation, where somebody knows two real codes and fills the gap between them with a tidy range. The second is inheritance, where one site guesses and forty others copy it, which is why a wrong code can look authoritative through sheer repetition. The third is drift, where a code was right when it was published and the delivery district was later split or merged.
You can check any Kaduna State code you are given in two steps. Confirm it starts with one of the dispatch prefixes listed above, which rules out codes belonging to another state entirely. Then confirm the last three digits with the delivery office, which is the only part no table can settle for you.
What Happens to a Letter Posted in Kaduna State
Knowing the chain explains why the first three digits matter more than the last three. A letter posted anywhere in Kaduna State is collected to the nearest branch, then moved to the dispatch office named by the first three digits of the destination code. Outgoing post leaves the state through the region 8 network, and incoming post arrives the same way in reverse, landing at the dispatch office before it is broken down to the delivery round in the last three digits.
The code earns its keep on registered and tracked items. Ordinary post in Kaduna State is forgiving, because a postman who recognises the street will deliver it regardless of the digits. A registered item, an EMS parcel or anything arriving from abroad is handled against the code at each transfer, so a wrong dispatch prefix on those can add days or send the item back.
Get the first three digits wrong and your letter travels to the wrong part of the country before anyone notices. Get the last three wrong and it usually still arrives, a day late, because the delivery office recognises the street. This is why a head office code such as 800001 is a safe fallback and a random six digits is not.
How to Write a Kaduna State Address
Kaduna city was laid out along the railway with named roads and numbered plots, so a written address there resolves more cleanly than in most northern cities.
The order NIPOST expects runs from the specific to the general, with the code on the same line as the town:
Mal. A. Yusuf 12 Ahmadu Bello Way Kaduna 800001 Kaduna State Nigeria
Two habits worth breaking. Do not put the code on its own line at the bottom the way American addresses do, because Nigerian sorting reads it beside the town name. And do not drop the state, even for a well known city, because several towns share names across states and the state is what disambiguates them.
Neighbouring Codes in Region 8
Kaduna State shares its postal region with the states below. If a code you have been given starts with one of their prefixes, the address is not in Kaduna State.
| State | Prefix |
|---|---|
| Katsina | 820 |
| Sokoto | 840 |
| Kebbi | 860 |
| Zamfara | 880 |
Finding the Code for Your Street
- Your delivery office holds the list that matters. Give them the street and the nearest landmark, and they will tell you which district code covers it.
- Search the NIPOST postcode finder by address rather than by local government.
- Where the delivery is informal anyway, use 800001, the Kaduna head office code, which routes correctly across the state.
What to Enter on a Form
Type 800001 if you are in or near Kaduna and do not know your district code. Six digits, no spaces. Avoid 23401 and 00000, which are not NIPOST codes and mean nothing to a sorting office even though most websites accept them.
If a foreign site rejects the code because it wants five digits, that is a validation fault on their end rather than a problem with your address. Enter the six digits wherever the form allows it, and never invent a shorter code for anything a bank, an embassy or a courier will check.
The New Code Coming in October
A new national postcode arrives on 1 October 2026. It runs 11 characters and goes all the way down to the building. For Kaduna the gain is concentrated in the southern local governments, where scattered settlements currently share broad district codes.
Quick Facts
- Kaduna State head office code: 800001
- Range: 800001 to 812103
- Dispatch prefixes: 800, 801, 802, 810, 811
- Local Government Areas: 23
- Capital: Kaduna
- New alphanumeric postcode: 1 October 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the zip code for Kaduna?
Kaduna head office is 800001. State codes run from 800001 to 812103, and every one begins 80 or 81.
What is the postal code for Zaria?
Zaria is served from the Kaduna blocks and functions as the state’s second postal centre. Confirm the exact district code at the Zaria branch, since the town has several delivery rounds including the campus area.
Why does Kaduna hold the 800001 code?
Because it was the capital of the old Northern Region. Postal region 8 was numbered outward from Kaduna, which is why Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara codes all begin with 8.
Does Ahmadu Bello University have its own postal code?
The campus runs its own internal delivery. Address institutional post to the department and campus, and use the Zaria town code for anything off campus.
What is the postal code for Kafanchan?
Kafanchan sits in the higher block serving southern Kaduna. It is the collection point for the southern local governments and has its own telephone area code, 02061.
Is the Kaduna area code the same as the postal code?
No. Kaduna has three telephone area codes, 02062, 02069 and 02061, for Kaduna city, Zaria and Kafanchan. The postal head office code is 800001.
How many local governments does Kaduna have?
Twenty three, split between the northern half of the state around Zaria and the southern half around Kafanchan.
What code should I use for a village in Kaduna State?
Use the code of the nearest town with a post office and name the community in the address. If you are unsure, 800001 reaches the state.
Summary
Kaduna codes begin with 80 or 81, run from 800001 to 812103, and come from four dispatch blocks. The head office code, 800001, anchors postal region 8 for the north west, a legacy of Kaduna’s years as the Northern Region capital. The state has 23 local governments and three sorting anchors: Kaduna city, Zaria and Kafanchan.
Conclusion
Use 800001 on forms. For Zaria, confirm at the branch, and for institutional post anywhere in the state, use the published private mail bag rather than a street address. In southern Kaduna, name the town before the community and let the code point at the town.