The Federal Government plans to spend about ₦206.5bn on poverty-related projects in its proposed 2026 budget, an amount that makes up just about 0.35 per cent of the total ₦58.47tn spending plan sent to the National Assembly.
A review of the 2026 Appropriation Bill shows that funds tagged directly for poverty alleviation across ministries, departments, agencies, and the Service Wide Vote remain very small when compared with the overall budget size. Even when compared with the capital budget of ₦23.21tn, the poverty-related allocation represents only about 0.89 per cent.
Most of the poverty-related funding comes from the Service Wide Vote under the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy. Two main recurrent provisions account for ₦200bn of the ₦206.5bn total. One is ₦100bn for the Federal Government’s commitment to the poverty reduction strategy, including the scaling up of the National Social Investment Programme, while another ₦100bn is set aside as recurrent spending under the same strategy. Without these two entries, all other MDAs combined account for only ₦6.5bn in poverty-related projects.
Several MDAs received small and location-specific allocations. The Border Communities Development Agency has ₦63m for poverty alleviation and women empowerment projects in Zamfara North Senatorial District. The Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs has ₦9.1m for monitoring and evaluation of poverty programmes, focusing mainly on administration.
Under the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, ₦140m is spread across projects for grain supply in parts of Kwara State and for borehole construction and skills starter packs across the six geopolitical zones. The National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation in Ilorin received ₦245m for empowerment items and skill training in Lagos and Oyo states.
One of the largest allocations outside the Service Wide Vote is ₦2.87bn given to the Federal Co-operative College, Ibadan, mainly for the supply of tricycles and motorcycles to selected communities nationwide. The Federal Co-operative College, Oji River, has ₦364m for grain supply in Edo State and empowerment projects for women and widows in parts of Anambra State.
Other agencies also received funds mainly for food distribution, skills training, and empowerment tools. Nigeria Stored Products Research Institute in Ilorin has ₦507.5m for grain supply projects in Edo State and the North Central region. The Centre for Management Development received ₦840m to supply empowerment items to small businesses in selected locations. The Board for Technology Business Incubator Centre, Abuja, has ₦700m for technology-based empowerment projects in Zamfara West.
Smaller allocations went to water agencies, science and technology bodies, women affairs programmes, and research institutions, mostly for training, studies, and limited empowerment activities. Some agencies received funds for symposiums, study tours, and planning exercises related to poverty reduction.
The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation saw its total budget rise sharply from ₦7.10bn in 2025 to ₦23.56bn in 2026, driven mainly by capital spending. However, many of the capital items were for office equipment, furniture, retreats, international meetings, and administrative systems rather than direct poverty relief projects.
Reports from international organisations paint a worrying picture. The World Bank says less than half of benefits from government-funded safety net programmes reach poor Nigerians and notes that Nigeria spends just 0.14 per cent of its GDP on social protection. PwC projects that Nigeria’s poverty rate could rise to 62 per cent by 2026, with about 141 million people living below the poverty line, driven by weak income growth and high living costs.
Both PwC and the World Bank warn that without stronger job creation, better productivity, and well-targeted social protection programmes, poverty levels in Nigeria may continue to rise, putting more pressure on households and public finances.
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