Nigeria’s N260bn Humanitarian Budget Falls Short of 15m Household Target
Despite a record N260 billion allocation to social intervention programmes in 2025, the Federal Government failed to reach millions of vulnerable households it had promised to support.
The official figures showed that while billions were disbursed under the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), only about 8.1 to 8.5 million households received cash transfers by year-end, leaving roughly 6.5 million families, 43 per cent of the target, unreached.
It is, however, worthy of note that President Bola Tinubu approved N32.7 billion early in 2025 for NSIP interventions, including loans and conditional cash transfers aimed at 15 million households. By August, records showed 5.9 million households had received N419 billion, with another N54 billion earmarked for 2.2 million households. Yet the final tally fell short, with N330 billion disbursed to 8.11 million households under the Conditional Cash Transfer scheme, mostly in tranches of N25,000.
The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction had also budgeted N4.6 billion in capital expenditure and N8.8 billion for the NSIP Agency, alongside ambitious plans to create two million jobs and train 50,000 individuals.
Although experts say execution weaknesses, verification bottlenecks, and monitoring gaps undermined delivery. “Nigeria is spending billions but reaching barely half of the targeted households. That raises serious questions about planning, targeting accuracy, and transparency,” said economist Samuel Adebayo of the University of Abuja.
Beneficiaries across several states reported delays and incomplete payments, with National Identity Number linkage requirements slowing disbursement. N-Power participants staged protests over nine months of unpaid stipends, prompting Senate intervention in July 2025 over N81 billion in outstanding allowances. For many families, the disconnect between policy announcements and actual payments translated into immediate financial strain.
Nigeria’s social protection framework, anchored on NSIP, identifies 19.78 million vulnerable households nationwide. Yet only about 5.5 million received direct cash transfer support in 2025.
Analysts, therefore, warned that without structural reforms to data systems and payment mechanisms, higher allocations alone will not significantly expand coverage.
The government’s humanitarian spending highlights a paradox: large budgets and ambitious targets, but persistent gaps in delivery. For millions of Nigerians left outside the safety net, the promise of relief remains unfulfilled.
