Femi Falana criticizes Tinubu’s poverty strategy as inadequate and urges full funding for welfare programmes to tackle Nigeria’s rising multi-dimensional poverty
Tinubu’s poverty strategy must move beyond rhetoric to real action, according to human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana.
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Falana called on President Bola Tinubu to lead by example rather than merely encouraging governors to “wet the grass” during a recent All Progressives Congress (APC) meeting.
“Instead of begging state governments, Tinubu should enforce the Social Investment Programme Act across all 36 states,” Falana stated in a release on Sunday.
He argued that the president’s remarks—urging governors to deliver “progressive change”—fell short of the decisive leadership Nigeria needs amid rising poverty.
The National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), aimed at alleviating poverty through youth empowerment, school feeding, and conditional cash transfers, received just ₦32.7 billion in the 2025 budget.
Falana described this allocation as grossly inadequate, especially when compared to ₦39 billion reportedly spent on the International Conference Centre renovation in Abuja.
“A country claiming to support 133 million multidimensionally poor citizens cannot justify such skewed spending priorities,” Falana argued.
He further pointed to the ₦11.195 trillion shared by FAAC among all tiers of government in the last year as proof that sufficient funds do exist for impactful social programmes.
In his critique, Falana cited BudgIT’s analysis, revealing that ₦6.93 trillion worth of 11,122 projects were padded into the 2025 budget—an amount equal to 12.5% of the entire ₦54.99 trillion national budget.
The SAN also slammed the contrast between underfunded welfare programmes and the ₦21 million and ₦15 million monthly emoluments given to senators and House members, respectively.
“It is indefensible to prioritise perks for lawmakers while social safety nets remain weak,” Falana said.
He urged the Federal Executive Council to allocate no less than ₦5 trillion to the NSIP and proposed that civil society and trade unions be given roles in managing the funds to enhance transparency and ensure proper use.
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“Tackling poverty requires more than speeches—it demands political will and accountable governance,” Falana concluded.
