Hardship: Lagos Govt Begins NIN Integration For FG’s Cash Transfer

Lagos State government disclosed on Tuesday that it has commenced integrating the National Identification Number (NIN) into the Lagos State Single Social Register (LASSR) as a subset of the National Social Register to facilitate federal government cash transfers to the state’s vulnerable.

The state’s Budget and Economic Planning commissioner, Mr. Ope George, disclosed this at the statewide press conference on integrating the National Identity number with the National Social Register held at the state government secretariat in the Alausa area.

According to him, 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.
George 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 National Identification Number 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 integrating NIN to the 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 National Identification Number and geo-locations.
He said the state commenced the process on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, across all 57 Local Governments and 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 visited local governments to harvest NIN and LASRRA and engaged 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, have 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.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, Mrs. Olayinka Ojo, said the exercise aimed to enhance accuracy, eliminate duplication of names, and ensure the intervention reached the right people.