S’East: FG moves to tackle insecurity, others through proof of address

The Federal Government, yesterday, said it was desirous of tackling insecurity in the South-East region through the Proof of Address System. It added that the proof of address system would equally help the various tiers of government in the country to adequately plan for the welfare of the citizens.

Speaking at the South-East stakeholder’s sensitisation meeting held in Enugu, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, disclosed that President Bola Tinubu’s government was activating a system that would be implemented across all 774 local councils to provide every resident with a verifiable and secure address while serving as an essential tool for administrative processes in the public and private sectors.

Akume, who was represented at the event by the Director of Political and Constitutional Matters, Mrs Helen Garpiya, said that the initiative was a step toward strengthening governance, enhancing security, and improving efficient service delivery at the grassroots level.

According to him, accurate data would help in national planning, as well as budgeting, lamenting that for a long time, Nigeria has been budgeting with little or nothing going down to the grassroots due to a lack of accurate data that could drive development.

He said: “But with the introduction of Proof of Address, accurate data could be procured for proper planning and growth of the nation. The nation can now have accurate data for planning and development.

“When we are planning, we should know how many people are in Enugu, for instance, so that we’ll budget and know the amenities that will go down to the grassroots.

“We need to get it right. For a long time, we have been budgeting but it doesn’t get there; but with this POA, we’ll be able to get there because we have data. With the POA, the exact number of people in Nigeria would be known, as well as that of foreigners coming into Nigeria. This is a step to having data for Nigeria.”

Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State, who was represented at the event by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ifeanyi Agujobi, said that the people of the South-East were ready to support any programme that would help curb insecurity and bring dividends of democracy to the grassroots, as he is already doing in Enugu State.