FG Begins Verification Of Social Register – Betta Edu

Posted by Nwa Diokpa Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria Friday, August 25th, 2023

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, has stated that verification of the national social register is ongoing to help categorise and identify Nigerians in dire need of assistance.
Edu made this known on Friday when she appeared on Channels Television.

The African Examiner writes that the previous social register, compiled under the previous administration, has been criticised for lacking in credibility and because of this, the National Economic Council (NEC), chaired by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, and had agreed to update the register.
Also, the NEC agreed that each state should come up with their own registers using formal and informal means.
Speaking on the development, Edu stated that her ministry would engage with state governors and stakeholders in the local governments to verify and expand the register.

“The first thing which we are starting almost immediately is the verification of the social register,” she said. “In a couple of weeks, we have been going back and forth with the governors’ forum and several interested parties, saying ‘the register is okay and not okay. The people who are truly poor are not on the list’.

“We are going to first carry out a full verification of the social register to ensure that truly it is the poorest of the poor, those who deserve to be on that list, that are on that list.

“We are going to verify and update the social register and work with the governors so that they can own it.

“We are going to work with those at the local governments so they can own it.

“And we can boldly say we know these people, these are the poorest of the poor and whatever intervention is coming, these people truly deserve it.”

It could be recalled that the social register was created for the purpose of cash transfers and other social investment programmes.