Ensure social intervention programmes alleviate poverty, APC chieftain urges Tinubu

n n

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Osun State, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has urged President Bola Tinubu to ensure that social intervention programmes of his administration designed to alleviate poverty among the masses make the expected impact.

n

This was disclosed in a statement made available to journalists in Osogbo, the state capital, on Sunday.

n

He lauded Tinubu for allocating N462.66 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act to the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction.

n

He, however, declared that Nigeria’s projected poverty level for 2026, put at about 62 to 63 per cent, remains high when compared with neighbouring Ghana, whose multidimensional poverty rate stood at 21.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2025.

n

To achieve maximum success, Oyintiloye said strategies must be put in place to ensure that allocated resources make positive impacts on the lives of less-privileged Nigerians.

n

He implored the President to strengthen and comprehensively evaluate the social intervention programmes of his administration, and ensure proper implementation to cushion the effects of economic hardship on Nigerians.

n

Oyintiloye demanded a review of the existing interventions covering youth employment, skills development, cash transfers, school feeding, agriculture and other forms of social protection, for maximum impact on Nigerians.

n

“Such interventions must have clear targets, transparent beneficiary selection, strong monitoring and measurable performance indicators to minimise leakages, duplication and abuse.

n

“The President must also ensure that public funds produce identifiable benefits. The President’s efforts to alleviate poverty among the masses must not be allowed to be truncated by selfish individuals.

n

“Since the intervention programmes are meant to alleviate poverty among the masses, every necessary strategy must be in place to ensure that allocated money has positive impacts on the lives of less-privileged Nigerians,” he said.

n

He also called for improved workers’ allowances and welfare packages, saying these would increase purchasing power, stimulate local businesses, strengthen household incomes and enable families to meet essential needs.

n

The APC chieftain, who noted that millions of Nigerians were living below the poverty line, said the efforts of the President through various intervention programmes to reduce poverty should be further repackaged to meet expected targets.

n

He urged Nigerians to keep believing in Tinubu’s capacity to further reduce poverty among them, stating that “the hardship Nigerians are presently facing will soon be a thing of the past. It is true that the economy is not in good shape and there is poverty in the land, but the President is not sleeping on all these.

n

“The removal of the fuel subsidy and the monetary policy of the President are already putting the country on the right path. We all just need to keep praying for the country and continue to play our part to support him to achieve his good plans for the upliftment of the country.”

n n