Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has urged President Bola Tinubu to address the increasing poverty crisis in Nigeria.
He recently asked BAT to fully commit federal resources to social welfare initiatives.
Speaking via a press statement, Falana revealed that the responsibility to take concrete welfare action lies mainly with the Federal Government.
According to him, rather than urging state governors to deepen their grassroots interventions to ease economic hardship, Tinubu should focus on ensuring the National Social Investment Programme Agency Act is adopted by the state governments.
“Instead of begging state governments to ‘wet ground more’, President Bola Tinubu is urged to ensure that the National Social Investment Programme Agency Act is adopted and enacted into law by the 36 state governments,” he said.
Falana maintained that instead of using ridiculous amounts to purchase administrative or infrastructural luxuries, both federal and state governments should prioritise making life better for poor Nigerians.
He concluded by blasting the disparity in federal spending, comparing the ₦32.7 billion earmarked for Nigeria’s National Social Investment Programme in the 2025 budget to Nigerian senators earning ₦21 million every month.
“A government that recently claimed to have spent the sum of ₦39 billion for the renovation of the International Conference Centre at Abuja at the Federal Capital Territory cannot justify the allocation of ₦32.7 billion to fund the National Social Investment Programmes for 2025 to support the 133 million people that are said to be multi-dimensionally poor in the country.
₦21 million is paid monthly to each senator and ₦15 million to each member of the House of Representatives.
Therefore, the Federal Executive Council should, as a matter of urgency, approve not less than ₦5 trillion to fund the National Social Investment Programme.
The management of the fund should not be left solely in the hands of government officials, but should involve elected representatives of trade unions and credible civil society organisations to ensure transparency and effectiveness,” he added.
