Over 7.7 million households are yet to be covered by the latest data update, as gaps persist in identifying vulnerable Nigerians for social protection and cash transfers……
The Federal Government has integrated the National Identification Number (NIN) of more than 15.6 million Nigerians into the National Social Register, as it intensifies efforts to improve the identification of poor and vulnerable households across the country.
The National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO) disclosed this in a statement published on its official X handle, saying more than 13.3 million unique households had been updated across 771 local government areas in 37 states as of October 2026.
The development comes amid the government’s reported disbursement of N658.9bn in direct cash transfers to 10.46 million poor and vulnerable households as of September 2026, according to the World Bank’s latest Nigeria Development Update.
While acknowledging progress in the cash transfer programme, the World Bank has called for wider coverage, more adequate payments and greater consistency in delivering assistance to beneficiaries.
NASSCO said the latest figures reflected ongoing efforts by the agency and its state-level partners to improve the accuracy of beneficiary data, strengthen identification processes and promote transparency in social protection programmes.
“As of October 2026, we have successfully integrated the National Identification Number of over 15.6 million individuals into the National Social Register, with more than 13.3 million unique households updated across 771 Local Government Areas in 37 states,” the office stated.
It added that the exercise was intended to build a more inclusive and responsive system for identifying Nigerians who require government assistance.
The latest figures show that the National Social Register contains 21,114,531 households and 83,162,654 individuals. Of the total households, 13,330,387 had been updated, representing 63.13 per cent coverage.
This leaves approximately 7.78 million households, equivalent to 36.87 per cent of the registered total, yet to be covered by the reported update.
The data further revealed that 11,347,989 households had at least one member whose NIN was integrated into the register, representing about 53.74 per cent of all registered households.
Meanwhile, the 15,653,374 individuals whose identification numbers had been integrated account for approximately 18.82 per cent of the 83.16 million people listed in the register.
The figures highlight an important distinction between updating household records and verifying the identities of individual members. A household may have its records updated without every member having a verified NIN linked to the register.
Expanding NIN integration could therefore strengthen beneficiary verification, improve the accuracy of the register and reduce the risk of duplicate or inaccurate records in the distribution of social assistance.
However, the pace of household updates varies considerably across states, with the latest breakdown showing a wide gap between the highest and lowest coverage rates.
Ebonyi State recorded the highest coverage at 88.08 per cent, followed by Enugu at 86.62 per cent and Kano at 86.18 per cent. The three states were the only ones listed among the leading performers with coverage exceeding 86 per cent.
Other states with relatively high coverage included Kogi at 80.61 per cent, Ekiti at 80.25 per cent, Zamfara at 78.74 per cent and Bauchi at 78.16 per cent.
At the other end of the ranking, Delta State recorded the lowest coverage at 25.31 per cent, followed by Lagos at 35.36 per cent and Borno at 38.18 per cent.
Sokoto recorded 41.61 per cent, while Oyo posted 41.28 per cent, placing both states among those with comparatively low coverage.
The difference between Ebonyi, the highest-performing state, and Delta, the lowest, stands at 62.77 percentage points, underscoring the uneven progress of the household data update across the country.
In Delta, the reported coverage represents roughly one-quarter of the households targeted by the exercise. Its rate is also 10.05 percentage points below Lagos, the second-lowest state in the ranking.
The disparities raise questions about the pace of implementation across different parts of the country and the extent to which gaps in household data could affect the identification of eligible beneficiaries.
With millions of households still awaiting updates and a smaller proportion of registered individuals having their NINs integrated, expanding coverage and improving the reliability of beneficiary records remain key challenges for Nigeria’s social protection system.
The effectiveness of the programme will depend not only on the number of households registered but also on how accurately vulnerable Nigerians are identified and how consistently those eligible receive the assistance intended for them.
