…Says funds must reach 133m Nigerians trapped in poverty
… Urges recovery of outstanding ₦20bn humanitarian funds
Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately transfer the N32.7 billion and $445,000 it recovered from officials of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA).
Falana, in a statement on Sunday under the platform of the Alliance on Surviving Covid-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), which he chairs, said the funds should be redirected to their original purpose of alleviating poverty among vulnerable Nigerians.
He recalled that President Bola Tinubu had in January approved the release of N32.7 billion for the implementation of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), which covers school feeding, N-Power, conditional cash transfers, and small business support schemes under the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP).
The senior advocate noted that although the EFCC confirmed recovering the exact amount of N32.7 billion alongside $445,000 from officials of the humanitarian ministry, the monies had yet to be credited to NSIPA, contrary to the anti-graft agency’s policy that all recovered funds must be returned to their designated projects.
“We commend the EFCC for its recovery efforts and urge it to go further by recovering the outstanding N20 billion still unaccounted for.
“But more importantly, the N32.7 billion and $445,000 already recovered should be transferred without delay to NSIPA to support over 133 million Nigerians living in multidimensional poverty,” Falana said.
He also called on the federal, state, and local governments to scale up their contributions to social protection programmes, noting that rising government revenues should translate to tangible investments in the welfare of citizens.
Citing recent Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements, Falana said the federal government shared N2.001 trillion in July and N1.8 trillion in June, yet social spending remained grossly inadequate.
“Governments must go beyond lip service. They must put their money where their mouth is and ensure meaningful investment in social protection for the poor,” he added.
Falana’s remarks come amid mounting public demand for transparency in managing welfare funds, especially following a string of high-profile corruption cases that exposed how billions meant for poverty alleviation were diverted
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