The Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA) has warned its registration agents against demanding payment from residents, stressing that the registration exercise is completely free.
The agency’s General Manager, Bilikis Adebiyi-Abiola, issued the warning on Thursday during a community sensitisation programme in Ajah, Lagos, urging residents to report any agent who requests money for the service.
Adebiyi-Abiola said LASRRA operated a zero-tolerance policy against agents who collected money from residents, noting that registration was a free service provided by the Lagos State Government.
“We have a zero-tolerance policy for any agent who is collecting money because LASRRA is absolutely free. If you notice, in every single one of our stations, we have a sign that says, ‘LASRRA is free’,” she said.
She urged residents who were asked to pay for registration to report the agents to LASRRA for appropriate action.
“There is no reason whatsoever for anybody to collect money from anyone because the government has made this a free service and it’s free,” she said.
The LASRRA boss said the agency had intensified community-based registration to make the process more accessible to residents.
She explained that officials were taking the registration exercise directly to communities, schools and vaccination clinics rather than relying solely on residents visiting registration offices.
According to her, registration starts from birth, with recent upgrades to LASRRA’s software and devices allowing the agency to register newborn babies without physically handling them.
Adebiyi-Abiola said the agency currently had about seven million residents on its database but was implementing several initiatives to increase the number.
She said LASRRA had begun working with the Office of Education Quality Assurance to extend registration to private schools, while registration was already required for pupils in public schools.
The general manager said the agency was also targeting markets, offices and other communities, noting that lack of awareness and the busy lifestyles of Lagos residents had contributed to low registration levels.
She stressed that registration was important because residents needed LASRRA identification to access various Lagos State Government services and programmes.
Adebiyi-Abiola added that LASRRA had allocated 50 slots at the ongoing Lagos State Trade Fair to registered residents as part of efforts to demonstrate the benefits of being captured in the state’s residents’ database.
Monarch urges residents to register
The monarch of Okun Ajah Kingdom, Oba Kolawole Olumegbon, commended LASRRA for taking its sensitisation campaign to communities.
He said residents’ registration had helped the government better understand the needs of communities and plan the provision of infrastructure and social services.
“There is a tremendous improvement, especially when it comes to infrastructural development that has happened in this axis. All thanks to the number of people who have registered through LASRRA and it helps the government to determine and know what they need for the people,” he said.
Olumegbon said the registration exercise was intended to give the government a clearer understanding of residents’ welfare needs and enable it to plan appropriate interventions.
“The essence of this registration through LASRRA is for the government to know our welfare and how to take care of us. So, that’s why it’s very important to register with LASRRA,” he said.
The monarch urged residents who had not registered to do so and encouraged those already captured in the database to educate others about the importance of the exercise.
“I enjoin everyone to go fast and register with LASRRA. Even as you can see, some of us are not even aware that a day-old baby can be registered.
“If you have registered, you need to tell people who have not registered that there is immense benefit in registering with LASRRA,” he said.
