By John Moses
The Nigerian government has officially launched a national Proof of Address (POA) System, a grassroots initiative designed to enhance governance, strengthen national security, and improve access to services across the country’s 774 local government areas.
The project, a flagship under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, was introduced during a one-day sensitisation forum for stakeholders from Nigeria’s northern geopolitical zone held in Abuja.
Speaking at the event on behalf of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, Permanent Secretary for Political and Economic Affairs, Engr. Nadungu Gagare, said the POA system will provide Nigerians with a secure, verifiable address linked to a national administrative framework.
“This system will serve as a cornerstone for public safety, service delivery, and improved transparency in governance,” Gagare said. “It will enable address verification to support everything from national identification and voting to financial inclusion and passport issuance.”
According to a statement by Segun Imohiosen, Director of Information in the SGF’s office, the address database will be integrated with vital public and private sector services to enable effective monitoring and planning.
Hon. Bello Lawal, President of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), represented by his Special Adviser, Simon Akala, described the POA initiative as “critical national infrastructure” and called for support from community leaders, traditional rulers, and civil society organisations.
Akala emphasised that coordinated street naming and property numbering, when synchronised with the POA system, would dramatically improve access to legal documents and basic services at the local level.
In her remarks, Mrs. Rose Ismaila, speaking on behalf of Postmaster General Tola Adeyemi, confirmed the Nigerian Postal Service’s readiness to deploy a digital postcode system for all Nigerian addresses. She said NIPOST is actively working with ALGON to align new postcodes with verified street data to establish a modern, nationwide addressing infrastructure.
