Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has declared that the Federal Government is under a legal obligation, not an act of charity, to provide cash transfers, grants and other social protection interventions to poor and vulnerable Nigerians under the National Social Investment Programme Agency (Establishment) Act, 2023.
Falana, who is the Chairman of the Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond warned that the FG could face legal action if it fails to fund poverty reduction programmes in the 2026 fiscal year as required by law.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the senior lawyer said recent public discussions on poverty alleviation, sparked by comments made by Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, should focus on the government’s statutory responsibility to tackle poverty rather than on individual efforts alone.
According to Falana, the law establishing the National Social Investment Programme Agency makes it mandatory for the Federal Government to implement programmes aimed at reducing poverty and unemployment across the country.
“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,” he said.
