More than 10,000 Front-End Partners (FEPs) have been trained nationwide as Nigeria moves closer to the full activation of the Local Government Proof of Address (PoA) system, marking a significant milestone in efforts to standardise address verification at the grassroots level.
According to a progress update released by the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), the trained FEPs are drawn from across the states of the federation and are being prepared to commence enrolment as the rollout advances.
ALGON noted that continuous retraining and revalidation will be carried out to ensure adherence to approved operational standards.
According to the update, 405 Local Government Areas (LGAs) out of the nation’s 774 have already signed bye-laws making PoA a mandatory requirement for accessing services within their jurisdictions, while 20 states have formally adopted the PoA bye-laws, providing the legal backing for implementation at the subnational level.
The update further disclosed that the remaining states and LGAs are actively engaging relevant stakeholders to pass the extant law and complete the legal process required for full nationwide adoption.
To ensure nationwide alignment and stakeholder buy-in, ALGON said that sensitisation meetings were held across the six geopolitical zones. The Southwest engagement took place on 10 March 2025, followed by the South-South on 13 March, the Southeast on 17 March, while a joint session for the Northwest, Northwast and North-Central zones was held on 17 June 2025.
On capacity building, ALGON disclosed that Local Government desk officers have been trained in 30 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with 300 of them screened and equipped to support the commencement of the project nationwide.
The verification framework has also been strengthened, with the adoption of 2,000 field verifiers, working alongside technology-driven solutions to authenticate residents who are not already captured in existing national and subnational databases.
ALGON stated that the scale of training, legal adoption and deployment underscores the commitment of local government councils to delivering a credible, inclusive and locally driven PoA system that would enhance service delivery, improve security coordination and strengthen data reliability across the country.
