Hardship: Lagos begins integration of NIN into Social Register for FG’s cash transfer
By Adeola Ogunrinde
The Lagos State Government on Tuesday announced that it has commenced the integration of the National Identification Number (NIN) into the Lagos State Single Social Register (LASSR), a subset of the National Social Register, to facilitate the Federal Government’s cash transfer programme for vulnerable residents.
The state’s Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mr. Ope George, disclosed this during a statewide press conference on the integration of the NIN with the National Social Register, held at the state secretariat in Alausa, Ikeja.
George explained that the move was necessitated by the urgent need to address the current economic hardship caused by the collapse of the forex window, the removal of fuel subsidy, and the proposed disbursement of relief grants.
He said, “The Federal Government, through the Presidential Panel, has directed that households on the National Register must be updated, particularly with their National Identification Numbers and geo-locations.”
According to him, the Lagos State Government has successfully linked the NINs of 130,000 heads of households out of the 688,759 currently on its social register. This move is in preparation for the planned N75,000 cash transfer to each household by the Federal Government, as part of its social intervention for vulnerable citizens.
Providing further updates, George said the state began the NIN integration exercise on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, across all 57 Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), in compliance with the presidential directive.
To ensure a seamless exercise, the commissioner said the Social Protection Coordinating Department (SPCD) in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget has been visiting local governments to collect NIN and Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA) data, while engaging community leaders to promote inclusivity and effectiveness.
“In just under a month, the SPCD, with support from Community-Based Targeting Teams (CBTTs) at the local government level, has updated the records of over 130,000 heads of households by linking their NINs to the LASSR across the 20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs in the state. Data from the ministry shows that Ikorodu leads with 16,418 linked records, followed by Alimosho with 14,964, and Mushin with 10,712,” George said.
He added that Lagos currently has 688,759 heads of households and 2,681,507 individual members on its register, which has helped the state in targeting vulnerable populations for interventions.
The commissioner urged Lagosians to cooperate with field officers by providing their NINs, noting that the integration exercise is critical to ensuring that support reaches the intended beneficiaries.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mrs. Olayinka Ojo, stated that the goal of the exercise is to enhance accuracy, eliminate duplication, and ensure that interventions are directed to the right people.
