Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has said the Federal Government is under a legal obligation to provide cash transfers, grants and other social protection interventions to poor and vulnerable Nigerians, insisting that such support is no longer an act of charity.
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Falana, who is the Chairman of the Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond, said the National Social Investment Programme Agency (Establishment) Act, 2023 makes it mandatory for the government to implement poverty reduction and unemployment intervention programmes across the country.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the senior lawyer warned that the Federal Government could be sued if it fails to adequately fund poverty reduction programmes in the 2026 fiscal year in line with the provisions of the law.
According to him, recent public debate on poverty alleviation, following comments by the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, should not be reduced to individual survival efforts alone, but should focus on the statutory duty of government to protect poor and vulnerable citizens.
“It has become necessary to direct the attention of the Nigerian people to the National Social Investment Programme Agency (Establishment) Act, 2023, which has imposed a legal obligation on the Federal Government to reduce poverty and unemployment,” Falana said.
He added, “Giving grants to poor and vulnerable people in society is no longer borne out of political interests. It has become the government’s legal obligation to citizens, not acts of charity or generosity.”
Falana’s comments came days after the First Lady urged Nigerians not to lose hope despite the current economic hardship, saying small-scale businesses such as selling akara, roasting corn and producing kulikuli require little capital and can serve as a source of livelihood.
She had also said her empowerment programmes focused on giving grants rather than loans to help beneficiaries start small businesses.
While acknowledging the relevance of empowerment initiatives, Falana said many Nigerians had rejected the impression that such petty trading alone could lift citizens out of poverty.
He insisted that the larger issue remains the Federal Government’s constitutional and statutory responsibility to fund and implement social protection programmes for citizens.
Falana explained that the NSIPA Act established the National Social Investment Programme Agency to coordinate interventions targeted at vulnerable citizens, unemployed youths and small business owners.
He listed the four major programmes under the agency to include the N-Power Programme for youth employment and skills acquisition; the Conditional Cash Transfer scheme for the poorest and most vulnerable households; the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, comprising TraderMoni, MarketMoni and FarmerMoni; and the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme.
According to him, the law also requires NSIPA to work with State Social Investment Programme Agencies to implement poverty reduction and social protection initiatives nationwide.
The senior lawyer recalled that allegations of widespread fraud under the previous administration led President Bola Tinubu to forward a bill to the National Assembly seeking to transfer the management of the social investment programmes from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction to the Presidency.
He said the proposed amendment was aimed at improving transparency, strengthening accountability and ensuring that beneficiaries are identified through the National Social Register.
Falana, however, noted that the amendment bill had not yet been passed by the National Assembly.
Pending its passage, he urged the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction to regularly brief Nigerians on the implementation of poverty reduction programmes.
He also called on citizens to demand periodic reports from State Social Investment Programme Agencies on steps being taken to reduce poverty and support vulnerable households.
“The National Social Investment Programme Agency (Establishment) Act, 2023 is designed to ensure the enforcement of Section 16 of the Constitution, which directs the Nigerian State to control the national economy to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen,” Falana said.
Citing official statistics, he said the National Bureau of Statistics estimated that about 133 million Nigerians are multidimensionally poor, while PwC Nigeria projected that the figure could rise to 141 million, representing about 62 per cent of the country’s population.
He warned that failure to fund poverty reduction programmes in 2026 would compel ASCAB to seek judicial intervention.
“The refusal of the Federal Government to fund poverty reduction programmes in 2026 in line with the provisions of the National Social Investment Programme Agency Act will be challenged by ASCAB at the Federal High Court,” he said.
NSIPA was established under the National Social Investment Programme Agency (Establishment) Act, 2023 to institutionalise Nigeria’s social protection programmes and ensure continuity in poverty reduction initiatives.
The agency provides the legal framework for implementing flagship government interventions, including cash transfers to poor households, youth employment schemes, microcredit programmes and school feeding.
The social investment programme has, however, come under scrutiny following allegations of financial mismanagement, prompting the Tinubu administration to propose reforms aimed at strengthening transparency, accountability and the delivery of welfare programmes through the National Social Register.
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