By Deborah Nnamdi
Senior Advocate of Nigeria and human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to transfer N32.7 billion and $445,000—recovered from officials of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development—to the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) for appropriate use.
In a public statement issued on August 24, 2025, under the platform of the Alliance on Surviving Covid-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), which he chairs, Falana emphasized the need for the funds to be redirected to the programme they were originally intended for.
He recalled that President Bola Tinubu, in January 2025, approved N32.7 billion for the implementation of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), which includes initiatives such as school feeding, N-Power, conditional cash transfers, and small business support under the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP).
Falana noted that although the EFCC had successfully recovered the full N32.7 billion along with $445,000 from allegedly corrupt ministry officials, the funds have not yet been transferred to NSIPA—contrary to the Commission’s own commitment to returning recovered funds to their designated purposes.
“We commend the EFCC and urge it to intensify efforts to recover the outstanding N20 billion still unaccounted for. But more importantly, the recovered N32.7 billion and $445,000 should be transferred to NSIPA to help alleviate the hardship faced by over 133 million multi-dimensionally poor Nigerians,” Falana stated.
He further urged all levels of government—federal, state, and local—to increase their investment in the NSIP, especially in light of rising government revenues. He highlighted that the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursed N2.001 trillion in July 2025 and N1.8 trillion in June from gross revenues of N3.836 trillion.
“Governments must go beyond lip service and invest meaningfully in social protection programmes. They must put their money where their mouth is,” he concluded.
Falana’s call comes amid mounting public demand for greater transparency and accountability in the administration of social welfare funds, following a series of corruption scandals linked to programmes meant to support vulnerable Nigerians.
