President Muhammadu Buhari led government has claimed that 15.5 million Nigerians have been enrolled in the National Social Register (NSR).
Although a full breakdown of beneficiaries is yet to be made public, the administration said the register would fast track implementation of the Social Investment Programmes (SIP).
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, made this known on Saturday in Kano at the presentation of food items donated to Nigeria by the ECOWAS Commission.
She recalled that at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NSR contained data of over 2.6 million poor and vulnerable households, “representing 11 million individuals in the 34 States and the FCT”.
The minister said as at June 30, the NSR “has grown to 3.7 million, equivalent to 15.5 million individuals in the 36 states and FCT.”
Farouq noted that the expanded register would facilitate distribution of the donated food items to the targeted population.
She said 70,000 tonnes of food palliative had been shared to the most vulnerable citizens.
Those covered are refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), People Living with Disabilities (PLWDs), older persons, trafficked victims, orphans, poor and other persons of concern.
The minister listed other palliatives as stipends to beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer and loans to traders.
