78m Nigerians captured in social register — FG

The federal government has stated that 78 million Nigerians are now captured on its social register for vulnerable Nigerians. Speaking during a stakeholders’ engagement with local government chairmen, the National Coordinator of the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO), Dr. Funmi Olotu said the register covers over 20 million households across all 36 states […]

The federal government has stated that 78 million Nigerians are now captured on its social register for vulnerable Nigerians.

Speaking during a stakeholders’ engagement with local government chairmen, the National Coordinator of the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO), Dr. Funmi Olotu said the register covers over 20 million households across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

She said the engagement is to see how the number can be verified by integrating National Identity Number (NIN) to be getting accurate and transparent data as the register will be used in carrying out government’s social intervention for poor households.

She added that over 9.7 million household records have been updated, with 12.3 million NINs captured and 11.5 million successfully validated.

“Currently we have over 20 million households, and over 78 million individuals. And we will be expanding, because according to the World Bank reports, we have about 133 million poor Nigerians. So that means we still have some people to cover. But we want to make the register strong, credible, accountable, so that when any intervention wants to happen, we can measure these interventions.

“Giving them a unique identity, because not two people can have the same name. So we know, okay, these are the ones we’ve carried out interventions with, and these are the ones we need to carry them.”

“We are building a system that ensures no vulnerable household is invisible, no intervention is misdirected, and no Nigerian is left behind.”

She added that if the project succeeds, the impact will extend beyond social protection to strengthen trust in governance, improve efficiency in service delivery, and deepen dignity in how support reaches citizens.

On his part, the World Bank Country Director, Matthew Verghis said the project can also become the basis of a digital revolution that goes far beyond social protection to serve the importance of making quick progress in addressing poverty.

“We are in a good position now in Nigeria to make real progress on this front. There has been a substantial increase in coverage in 2025 and that significantly increased the coverage of the social register aligned with national identity numbers.

However, scaling up coverage is the single most important priority that the social protection system in Nigeria faces today.”

The Governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal, disclosed that many communities are facing multidimensional consequences of insecurity, displacement of people, food insecurity, and disruptions to the global economic system which have increased the vulnerability of households, especially women, children, displaced communities, persons with disabilities, and rural populations.

“It is therefore imperative that social protection interventions are better coordinated, data-driven, transparent, and effectively targeted to ensure that limited resources reach those who genuinely need them,” he said.