The Lagos State Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology and Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA) have reaffirmed the importance of a unified digital identity management system as part of efforts to strengthen data-driven governance, smart city development, and efficient public service delivery across the State.
This formed the focus of discussions during a recent courtesy visit by officials of the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology to the Lagos State Residents Registration Agency.
The courtesy visit, led by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology (MIST), Mr. Adeyinka Sorungbe to the LASRRA head office in Ikeja, provided both the Ministry and the agency with an opportunity to explore areas of collaboration in digital identity management, database integration, technological innovation, and residents’ data administration for effective governance and planning.
The Permanent Secretary stressed that LASRRA remains the legally recognised identity management agency for Lagos State and should serve as the primary centralised database for all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), rather than allowing multiple independent resident data collection systems across government institutions.
He further emphasised the importance of building future government technology solutions around existing LASRRA infrastructure to eliminate duplication of records, improve interoperability across MDAs, and strengthen centralised data governance within Lagos State.
Speaking during the engagement, Mr. Sorungbe, reaffirmed that accurate resident identification remains fundamental to modern governance, efficient service delivery, public safety management, and the realisation of Lagos State’s digital transformation agenda.
He noted how integration with LASRRA’s database could enhance tax administration, student identity management, healthcare enrollment, security operations, demographic planning, and smart city initiatives.
He highlighted the importance of continuous data validation, demographic updates, migration monitoring, and integration of death registration systems to support accurate planning, social intervention programmes, healthcare allocation, and smart city operations.
During the meeting, LASRRA’s General Manager, Mrs. Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola, presented an overview of the Agency’s operations and digital infrastructure, disclosing that the Agency currently maintains a robust biometric database with the capacity to accommodate over 20 million resident records.
She said the Agency also operates both primary and backup data centres to ensure continuity, reliability, and security of residents’ information. Mrs. Adebiyi-Abiola further highlighted a renewed strategy of taking registration services directly to communities through the deployment of newly acquired Android-based handheld registration devices designed to improve field mobility and increase residents’ enrollment across the State.
According to her, the mobile registration initiative of LASRRA, will support community-based enrollment exercises in schools, Community Development Associations (CDAs), Community Development Committees (CDCs), and local government communities, with plans to reach at least one CDA or CDC meeting in every local government area within the year.
Discussions at the meeting emphasised the strategic importance of the LASRRA database in governance, security, healthcare planning, taxation, education management, social intervention programmes, and urban development.
The meeting also explored opportunities for deeper inter-agency integration, particularly with agencies such as the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service, healthcare institutions, educational institutions, security agencies, and other government establishments.
Data security, infrastructure oversight, and consultant access management also featured prominently during the discussions, just as the Ministry stressed the need to protect the integrity of the LASRRA database, describing it as one of the State Government’s most valuable digital assets.