Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu Links Success of Social Register Reform to Local Government Action

By GABRIEL CHOBA

The Chairman of the House Committee on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Rt. Hon. Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu, has issued a stark warning that the success of the National Social Register (NSR) and its integration with the National Identification Number (NIN) hinges not on policy announcements in Abuja, but on the discipline and active leadership of Local Government officials.

Speaking at a Stakeholder Engagement on the NSR and NIN Integration, the lawmaker, who represents the Ethiope East/Ethiope West Federal Constituency, delivered a candid assessment of Nigeria’s social protection system.

“Many government programmes fail not because the ideas are wrong, but because implementation becomes weak at different levels,” Ibori-Suenu stated. “Somewhere between policy decisions and local execution, systems begin to lose direction, discipline, and accuracy.”

The address marked a significant shift in tone, placing the onus squarely on Local Government Chairmen, who he described as the “closest level of government to the people.” With the recent Supreme Court ruling affirming Local Government financial autonomy, Ibori-Suenu argued that expectations have fundamentally changed.

“Recent developments on Local Government autonomy have changed expectations across the country. More responsibility is now moving to the grassroots. Citizens will increasingly judge governance by what they can see and experience in their own communities,” he said. “Local Governments therefore cannot play a passive role.”

The lawmaker highlighted critical on-the-ground failures that threaten the reform’s integrity, including inaccessible registration centres, non-functional equipment, and prohibitive transportation costs that force vulnerable citizens to abandon the process. He called for direct community mobilisation involving traditional rulers, women’s groups, and market associations.

In a pointed critique of past failures, Ibori-Suenu warned against the politicisation of social welfare. “Public trust weakens when citizens believe that social intervention programmes are influenced by politics instead of genuine need,” he cautioned. “Once people begin to believe that only connected individuals benefit, confidence in the entire system starts to disappear.”

He stressed that the NSR must be kept credible, with “false beneficiaries removed and genuine vulnerable households not ignored.”

While acknowledging the groundwork laid by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, the National Social Safety-Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO), and NIMC, Ibori-Suenu concluded with a powerful challenge to local leaders, stating that success would not be measured by the size of the register, but by whether vulnerable Nigerians are correctly identified and effectively supported.