FG Earmarks N150bn For Poverty Alleviation

The Federal Government has allocated a total sum of N150bn to implement poverty alleviation programmes in 2024.

The amount is to be spent under the four pillars of macroeconomic stability, industrialisation, structural policies/institutional reforms and redistributive policies/programmes of government under the National Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy.

Besides the N150bn allocation to the NPRGS, the Federal Government, in the N28.77trn budget signed by President Bola Tinubu on Monday, allocated the sum of N10.35bn to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.

Already, 15 million households are beneficiaries of the government’s N25,000 monthly grants under the Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme.

The NPRGS was approved by the Federal Executive Council in 2021 during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari to address poverty, particularly in rural areas.

The programme is to run for 10 years (2021-2031), with an estimated implementation cost of $1.6tn at an annual average of about $161bn.

Shortly before handing over to the Bola Tinubu-led government, the Buhari administration claimed that a total of 1.8 million ‘vulnerable Nigerians’ benefited from the programme.

Last Thursday, while receiving members of the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos, Tinubu pledged his commitment “to supporting a strong and ideologically-determined democracy that is progressive, inclusive, and focused on eliminating poverty while providing quality education for our children.”

Earlier on Wednesday while inaugurating the corporate headquarters of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, Vice President Kashim Shettima said “This moment solidifies President Bola Tinubu’s assurance to protect our enterprises. It resonates deeply within our economic revitalisation plan. His focus on job creation, capital accessibility, economic growth, and poverty eradication forms the very skeleton of our strategy to invigorate the economy. Inevitably, this path demands tough decisions, yet ones essential to our success.”