The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) said the Federal Government’s $1bn anti-poverty social protection programme, unveiled recently, was long in the making and developed carefully and diligently, contrary to recent opposition campaign rhetoric that it was hurriedly arranged to respond to criticism.
In a statement by its Chairman Emeka Nwankpa and Secretary Dapo Okubanjo, the group argued that the federal government’s months-long plans on the foremost flagship programme should not be glibly described as a panic, knee-jerk and hurried response to the opposition’s campaign promise to restore fuel subsidy.
The statement read in full, ” The recently unveiled $1 billion social protection initiative tagged Renewed Hope Social Protection programme (HOPE-SP) is a well-thought-out, targeted and coordinated plan by the President Bola Tinubu administration to fund long-term economic support for vulnerable Nigerians. The goal is to provide the poorest of the poor with permanent and sustainable economic freedom rather than mere palliative support, which had been the hallmark of previous poverty reduction schemes in the country.
“This is in the aftermath of the attendant cost of living crisis that trailed the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of multiple exchange rates.
“But we are indeed shocked that an initiative which the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Bernard Doro, and his team had been working on since assuming office in November 2025 based on a Presidential directive is being reduced to a knee-jerk response to a convoluted campaign promise by one of the presidential candidates in the forthcoming general elections.
“While it is true that the comprehensive poverty reduction programme was launched about one week after former Vice President Atiku Abubakar made public his so-called Atiku Economic Recovery Plan, which is tied to restoring the fuel subsidy, it takes more than a few days to put together such an elaborate and multi-faceted social protection programme.
“It beggars belief that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) could even suggest that HOPE-SP, which also factors in a deliberate tracking of beneficiaries and measuring their progress, was a response to the Atiku plan when the $1bn programme is not just a simple declaration at an event.
“The truth is that regardless of the political mileage the opposition is seeking to gain, President Tinubu had always acknowledged that the ongoing reforms would come with some pains but he pledged to ensure that vulnerable Nigerians would not be left unattended to.
“Before the launch of this well-coordinated approach to reducing poverty in the land, the Tinubu administration had, in the last 3 years, adopted a Cash Transfer initiative which benefited about 10m vulnerable households.
“We are also aware that the World Bank which had always lauded the reforms, had raised concerns about an inadequate social safety net for the vulnerable, saying that only 44% of government-funded schemes are actually reaching those who need social protection.
“In essence, the Tinubu administration had always evolved and delivered social safety initiatives and it is also true that it had to put measures in place to ensure the beneciaries are indeed those for whom the schemes are meant.
“So this latest social protection initiative alongside the recently unveiled World Bank-backed $3bn plan could be described as a well thought-out, robust response which goes beyond cash transfer to making vulnerable Nigerians have a more sustainable livelihood.
“We are aware that under the new architecture, benefitting households would also be tracked with a view to measuring the impact of the programme, and guided appropriately through a “poverty graduation pathway” towards economic inclusion and self-reliance.”
The group expressed the hope that ongoing schemes to eventually end multi-dimensional poverty in the country would crystallize when subnationals key into the programme to ensure a coordinated and sustained anti-poverty makeover approach that transforms lives across all 8,809 wards in the country.
The group praised Nigerians for their resilience and patience in contributing to the success so far of ongoing economic reforms in the country, urging them to ensure that while keeping faith with the Tinubu administration, they consciously resist attempts by some presidential candidates to mislead ahead of the 2027 elections,
