By Lukman Olabiyi
Lagos State Government has commenced the integration of the National Identification Number (NIN) into the Lagos State Single Social Register (LASSR) as a subset of the National Social Register to facilitate the Federal Government’s cash transfer to the vulnerable in the state.
The state commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mr. Ope George disclosed this at the statewide press conference, yesterday, on the national identity number integration with the national social register.
George said the move was necessitated by the urgent need to tackle the current hardship triggered by the collapse of the forex window, removal of fuel subsidy and the proposed payment of relief grant.
He said: “The Federal Government has directed, through the Presidential Panel, that households on the National Register must be updated, especially with national identification number and geo-locations.”
According to him, the state government has successfully linked the NIN of 130,000 heads of households out of the 688, 759 on its social register in preparation for the N75,000 cash transfer by the Federal Government to each household as part of its social intervention for vulnerable citizens.
Harping on how far the state has gone in the integration of NIN to social register, he explained that the state embarked on the exercise a month ago, following directives by the presidential panel that the national register must be updated, especially with NIN and geo-locations.
He said the state commenced the process on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, across all the 57 local governments and local council development areas.
To ensure a smooth exercise, the commissioner said the Social Protection Coordinating Department (SPCD), in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, has been visiting local governments to harvest NIN and LASRRA and engaging with community leaders to ensure a smooth, inclusive and impactful exercise
“In the space of barely a month, SPCD, with the support of the Community Based Targeting Teams (CBTTs) at the local government level, has been able to update over 130,000 heads of households by ensuring the NINs are linked with the LASSR in the 20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs across the state.
“Data from the ministry shows that out of the 130,000 heads of households already linked, Ikorodu leads with 16, 418, followed by Alimosho with 14, 964 and Mushin coming third with 10,712.’’
George added that the state currently has 688,759 heads of households and 2,681,507 individual members on its register, which has helped the state to target vulnerable individuals for intervention.
“This initiative is not just an update to the Register, it is a transformative step in our collective mission to ensure that no resident of Lagos is left behind in the delivery of social protection measures and social intervention programmes in line with THEMES + Agenda of this administration.
He urged Lagosians to cooperate with field officers of the social protection teams by making their NINs available, adding that the one exercise will end.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, Mrs. Olayinka Ojo said the goal of the exercise was to enhance accuracy, eliminate duplication of names and ensure the intervention gets to the right people.