The Federal Government has proposed N206.50 billion for poverty alleviation-related projects in the 2026 Appropriation Bill, representing far below one per cent of the total N58.47 trillion spending plan submitted to the National Assembly.
A review of project-level data shows all poverty-tagged items across ministries, departments, agencies, and the Service Wide Vote add up to N206.5 billion, equating to about 0.35 per cent of overall federal spending and roughly 0.89 per cent of the N23.21 trillion capital budget.
The bulk of the allocation, N200 billion or over 96 per cent, comes from the Service Wide Vote through two major recurrent provisions under the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS), including NSIP upscaling.
Without these central NPRGS entries, all MDAs combined account for only N6.50 billion in poverty-related projects, highlighting limited direct intervention outside the main strategy.
The Border Communities Development Agency headquarters has N63 million across two projects for poverty alleviation and empowerment of women in Zamfara North Senatorial District.
The Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs allocated N9.1 million for monitoring and evaluation of poverty alleviation programmes.
Under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security headquarters, N140 million covers the supply of agricultural grains for poverty alleviation in parts of Kwara South Senatorial District and construction of solar-powered boreholes with skills-acquisition packs across geopolitical zones.
The National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation in Ilorin has N245 million for empowerment items to women and youths in Lagos and capacity building across wards in Akinyele and Lagelu Federal Constituency in Oyo State.
The Federal Co-operative College, Ibadan, received the largest MDA-based allocation of N2.87 billion for tricycles and motorcycles for poverty alleviation across all geopolitical zones.
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The Federal Co-operative College Oji River has N364 million for grain supply to communities in Edo State and empowerment of women and widows in Orumba North and South Federal Constituencies.
The Federal College of Horticulture Dadin Kowa in Gombe allocated N140 million for empowerment items to youth and women across wards of Zaki local government area.
The Nigeria Stored Products Research in Ilorin has N507.5 million spread across grain supply projects in Owan West and Owan East in Edo State and selected communities in North Central.
The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment headquarters has N7.7 million for strategies to create 100 million jobs and lift people out of poverty.
SMEDAN headquarters allocated N105 million for capacity building and training for women and youths on creative industry and agricultural value chains in parts of Borno State.
These allocations focus on grain distribution, transport and empowerment tools, and capacity building, while smaller amounts go to studies, symposiums, and administrative coordination.
The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation saw its total allocation rise from N7.10 billion in 2025 to N23.56 billion in 2026, a 232 per cent increase, driven by capital spending.
The World Bank’s report on social safety nets notes only 44 per cent of benefits from government-funded schemes reach poor Nigerians, describing spending as inefficient.
PwC’s Nigeria Economic Outlook 2026 projects poverty rising to 62 per cent or 141 million people by 2026 due to weak real income growth and persistent inflation.
The World Bank Nigeria Development Update reports the number of poor people increased from 81 million in 2019 to roughly 139 million in 2025, or nearly 62 per cent of the population.
Experts stress that without targeted job creation, productivity improvements, and effective social protection, reducing poverty will remain challenging.
