Renowned Senior Advocate of Nigeria and human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately transfer the massive ₦32.7 billion and $445,000 recovered from corrupt officials of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development to the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA).
According to Falana, who also chairs the Alliance on Surviving Covid-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), the funds were originally approved by President Tinubu to cater for key social welfare programmes such as school feeding, N-Power, conditional cash transfers, and support for small businesses under GEEP. He stressed that these monies must not be left idle but redirected quickly to ease the hardship of millions of Nigerians battling poverty.
Falana commended the EFCC for its recovery efforts but noted that over ₦20 billion remains unaccounted for, urging the agency to intensify its work. He insisted that the recovered funds should not be diverted or lost in bureaucratic bottlenecks but used to support over 133 million Nigerians living in multi-dimensional poverty.
The fiery lawyer further appealed to federal, state, and local governments to scale up contributions to the programme, noting the recent rise in government revenue. He emphasized that genuine social protection policies should be funded robustly, not treated as token gestures.
His call comes amid heightened public demand for transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s welfare sector, following multiple high-profile corruption scandals. Nigerians are now watching closely to see if the EFCC will ensure these funds truly serve the people.
