About NASSCO Nigeria
The National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO) coordinates, consolidates, and validates social protection delivery across Nigeria in partnership with the World Bank.
Building the Institutional Evidence Base for Poverty Alleviation
The core mandate of NASSCO is to establish a rigorous, evidence-based clearinghouse of poor and vulnerable households in Nigeria by building and maintaining the National Social Register (NSR), while coordinating, refining, and integrating disparate social safety net interventions into an interoperable social protection framework.
Social safety nets comprise non-contributory transfers in cash or kind designed to provide immediate support to vulnerable citizens. They alleviate hunger and malnutrition, reduce economic inequality, bolster households against shocks, build human capital, and solidify the social contract between the state and its citizens.
A Decade of Building Nigeria's Social Protection Architecture
Establishment & Institutional Grounding
NASSCO was founded by the Federal Government of Nigeria in strategic collaboration with the World Bank to coordinate disparate social interventions and build the National Social Register (NSR).
National Rollout & SOCU Expansion
State Operations Coordinating Units (SOCUs) were deployed across all 36 States and the FCT, pioneering Community-Based Targeting (CBT) and Proxy Means Testing (PMT).
Shock-Responsive Urban Expansion
During national economic disruptions, NASSCO activated rapid emergency urban social registers to disburse emergency livelihood relief to informal workers.
NASSP Scale-Up & 100% Digitalization
Under the Renewed Hope Agenda, the register expanded towards 15 million households with biometric NIN integration, 1,000+ mobile devices, and direct wallet disbursements.
Guiding Policies & Governance Principles
National Social Protection Policy Alignment
The National Social Safety Nets Project (NASSP) is anchored within Nigeria's National Social Protection Policy, establishing social safety nets as a permanent structural pillar of economic resilience.
Single Source of Evidence-Based Targeting
NASSP provides the structural data clearinghouse that allows the Federal Government and international donors to target and deliver emergency assistance with zero ghost recipients.
Gender Mainstreaming & Vulnerability Priority
In alignment with the National Gender Policy, NASSCO guarantees that female-headed households, indigent widows, and mothers of malnourished children are systematically prioritized.