President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to “promptly set up a presidential panel of inquiry to thoroughly, impartially, effectively and transparently investigate spending on all social safety nets and poverty alleviation programs and projects executed between 2015 and 2022,” according to the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to “promptly set up a presidential panel of inquiry to thoroughly, impartially, effectively and transparently investigate spending on all social safety nets and poverty alleviation programs and projects executed between 2015 and 2022,” according to the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
Additionally, SERAP requested him to “guarantee that the results of any such investigation are widely reported and that anyone suspected of engaging in corruption or the improper use of public funds intended to benefit the poor should be prosecuted as necessary.
President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to “promptly set up a presidential panel of inquiry to thoroughly, impartially, effectively and transparently investigate spending on all social safety nets and poverty alleviation programs and projects executed between 2015 and 2022,” according to the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
Additionally, SERAP advised him to “ensure that the results of any such investigation are widely published, and suspected perpetrators of corruption and mismanagement of public funds intended to care for the poor should face prosecution as appropriate, if there is sufficient evidence, and any stolen public funds should be recovered.”
According to a recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), 133 million Nigerians live in poverty, despite the fact that the government is said to spend N500 billion annually on “social investment.”
The organization claimed in a letter dated November 19, 2022, and signed by Kolawole Oluwadare, the deputy director of SERAP, that the report “suggests a grave violation of the public trust, and the lack of political will to genuinely address poverty, and uphold your government’s constitutional and international human rights obligations.”
The 133 million poor Nigerians reported by SERAP “suggests corruption and mismanagement in the spending of trillions of naira on social safety nets and poverty alleviation programs, including the reported disbursement of over $700 million from the repatriated Abacha looted funds to these programs.”
Additionally, SERAP stated that as a matter of law, your government must confront and combat extreme poverty in an effective and progressive manner.
The letter, copied to Mr. Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, read in part: “These grim revelations by the NBS show the failure to fulfill your oft-repeated promise to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty, and that no one will be left behind.”
“We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within seven days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel your government to comply with our request in the public interest.”
“The report also shows that the purported social safety nets and poverty alleviation programs are clearly not working. It also shows a failure by your government to uphold the constitutionally and internationally guaranteed human rights of the Nigerian people.”
“SERAP also urges you to prioritize investment in quality education and healthcare, and to redirect some of the unnecessary spending in the 2023 budget such as spending by the presidency on feeding and travels, and money allocated to the National Assembly in the budget to address poverty as a human rights issue.”
“A supplementary appropriation bill, which reflects the proposed redirected budget should be urgently sent to the National Assembly for its approval.”
“Section 14(2)(b) of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 [as amended] provides that, ‘the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.’”
“Under Section 16(1)(a)(b), your government has the obligations to ‘harness the resources of the nation and promote national prosperity and an efficient, a dynamic and self-reliant economy, and to “secure the maximum welfare, freedom, and happiness of every citizen.”
