The Federal Government is to register about five million Nigerians in the ongoing National Social Register (NSR) for the Poor and Vulnerable Households.

Mr Peter Papka, NAASCO Coordinator, disclosed this on Tuesday at the inauguration of the Community Base Target (CBT) teams in Maiduguri.

Represented by Atiku Abubakar, the Head of Monitoring and Evaluation, Papka said that about 1 million poor and vulnerable families would be captured in the exercise this year.

Papka said that about four million poor families would also be covered in subsequent years across the country.

He explained that the social register was designed to standardize and check duplication in the conditional cash transfer programme by government and development organizations.

“The Federal Government is building durable institution and systems that will support pro-poor sustainable intervention programmes.

“While Government spending on poverty reduction interventions has been on the increase, there has not been commensurate movement of people out of poverty; rather people are getting poorer,” he said.

Papka said that government had adopted modalities to address the problems to fast track implementation of the poverty eradication programme through establishment of partnership between tiers of government.

The coordinator added that other measures include the devolving of responsibility for identification of poor to communities for the social register as well as effective monitoring and evaluation.

Papka tasked members of the CBT teams to ensure that only those in need were register.

Also speaking, Alhaji Hassan Boguma, the State Coordinator, Youth Empowerment and Social Support programme, said that about 54,000 poor and vulnerable households would be captured in the 9 participating local government councils of the state.

He said that the registered households would be trained on various trades and provided with cash to enable them engage in productive activities.

Boguma explained that the programme would give priority to youth and women displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency.

“The programme is funded by the World Bank and the Federal and Borno State Government.

“It is design to provide livelihood support, reduce poverty and enhance wealth creation in the society.”