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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Sports

Cash transfers to poor Nigerians FG’s legal duty, not charity, Falana

From The Punch · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Human rights lawyer Femi Falana stated that providing cash transfers to poor Nigerians is a legal obligation under the National Social Investment Programme Agency Act, not charity.
  • Falana warned the Federal Government could face legal action if it fails to fund poverty reduction programs as required by the 2023 Act.
  • His remarks address public discussions on poverty alleviation, emphasizing the government's statutory responsibility over individual efforts.

Providing cash transfers and social protection to vulnerable Nigerians is a legal obligation for the Federal Government, not an act of charity, according to human rights lawyer Femi Falana. He emphasized that this responsibility is mandated by the National Social Investment Programme Agency (Establishment) Act of 2023.

Falana, who chairs the Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond, warned that the government could face legal challenges if it neglects to fund poverty reduction programs in the 2026 fiscal year as stipulated by law. His comments come amid public discussions on poverty alleviation, sparked by remarks from Nigeria's First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu.

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.

— Femi FalanaHighlighting the legal basis for government intervention in poverty reduction.

While acknowledging the First Lady's initiative to support small-scale businesses with grants, Falana stressed that the core issue is the government's statutory duty to tackle poverty. He pointed to the NSIPA Act, which mandates the Federal Government to implement programs aimed at reducing poverty and unemployment. The Act established the agency to coordinate interventions through programs like N-Power for youth employment, the Conditional Cash Transfer scheme, the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), and the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme.

Falana clarified that the law requires NSIPA to collaborate with state-level agencies to implement these poverty reduction and social protection measures. He stated that giving grants to the poor and vulnerable is no longer a matter of political discretion but a legal obligation to citizens.

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.

— Femi FalanaClarifying the nature of social protection interventions as a legal duty.
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Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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