FG’s New $1bn Poverty Reduction Initiative Not Knee-Jerk Response to Opposition Campaign — TMSG
Oru Leonard
The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has described the Federal Government’s newly unveiled $1 billion Renewed Hope Social Protection Programme (HOPE-SP) as a carefully planned initiative, dismissing claims that it was hurriedly introduced in response to opposition campaign rhetoric.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Emeka Nwankpa, and Secretary, Dapo Okubanjo, the group said the programme had been in development for months and was designed to provide long-term and sustainable economic support for vulnerable Nigerians.
TMSG said it was therefore misleading to portray the initiative as a panic or knee-jerk response to the campaign promise of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to restore fuel subsidy.
According to the group, the HOPE-SP programme was initiated following a presidential directive and had been worked on by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Bernard Doro, and his team since November 2025.
“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 statement said.
TMSG explained that the programme was designed to move beyond temporary palliatives by helping poor Nigerians achieve sustainable economic independence.
It acknowledged that the initiative came against the backdrop of the cost-of-living pressures associated with the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of multiple exchange rates, but stressed that such a comprehensive programme could not have been assembled within a few days.
The group said although HOPE-SP was launched about a week after Atiku unveiled his economic recovery plan, the timing did not establish any connection between the two initiatives.
“It takes more than a few days to put together such an elaborate and multi-faceted social protection programme,” TMSG said, describing suggestions by the African Democratic Congress (ADC) that HOPE-SP was a response to Atiku’s plan as difficult to substantiate.
The group noted that the programme includes mechanisms for deliberately tracking beneficiaries and measuring their progress, including a “poverty graduation pathway” designed to guide vulnerable households towards economic inclusion and self-reliance.
TMSG also pointed to the Federal Government’s cash transfer initiative, which it said had benefited about 10 million vulnerable households over the past three years.
It further cited concerns reportedly raised by the World Bank over gaps in Nigeria’s social safety nets, noting that only about 44 percent of government-funded schemes were reaching people in need of social protection.
The group said the latest initiative, together with a recently unveiled World Bank-backed $3 billion plan, represented a more comprehensive approach to tackling poverty by combining social protection with sustainable livelihood opportunities.
TMSG expressed optimism that the country’s efforts to tackle multidimensional poverty would achieve greater impact if state and local governments effectively keyed into the programme.
It called for a coordinated and sustained approach capable of transforming lives across Nigeria’s 8,809 wards.
The group also commended Nigerians for their resilience and patience amid the ongoing economic reforms, urging citizens to remain focused and to critically assess campaign claims by political actors ahead of the 2027 general elections.
