FEC orders establishment of Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund, seeks $5bn for annual sustenance

The Federal Government has mandated the creation of the Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund, which will require $5 billion in funding each year to operate.

The Federal Executive Council meeting, which was held on Monday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja under the chairmanship of President Bola Tinubu, approved the decision to flog the trust fund.

The cash, according to Betta Edu, the minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, would go a long way toward addressing any emergency scenario in the nation.

To ensure the board’s efficient operations, particularly its ability to raise money from donor organizations, Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, and other ministers were coopted onto the board.

Edu stated: “Today, Council approved the establishment of the Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund, which will be overseen by a governing board. Members of the committee will, of course, carefully plan out how to administer the humanitarian and poverty fund.

“Of course, it will involve the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and the Finance Minister, as well as other ministries who are pertinent to the process. This adaptable source of funding is intended to support Nigeria’s ability to effectively respond to humanitarian crises and difficulties as well as effectively solve the country’s poverty problem. Undoubtedly, this is a win for the underprivileged and would deliver the assistance and support that the Renewed Hope Agenda advocates.

In a related event, the minister disclosed that the protocol on the protection of elderly people’s rights in Nigeria was ratified by the FEC.

She mentioned that Nigeria was one of the nations on the continent that had ratified the African Charter, which stated that elderly people have a right to protection and should not be subjected to any form of discrimination.