Humanitarian Affairs minister announces new $1bn “Renewed Hope” programme for vulnerable Nigerians

The Federal Government has paid out over ₦600 billion in cash transfers to vulnerable Nigerians in the last three years, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Bernard Doro, has said.

Doro disclosed this on Wednesday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

“We’ve done over 600 billion in cash transfers to be able to support vulnerable Nigerians within three years. We have reached slightly over 10 million households,” he said.

The announcement came hours after the government launched the $1 billion Renewed Hope Social Protection Programme. The initiative was unveiled by First Lady Oluremi Tinubu.

At the heart of it is the Household Prosperity and Empowerment Social Protection Project, HOPE-SP. The project aims to move families beyond one-off aid by tracking them and measuring progress toward economic self-reliance.

“We have a system where we want to deliberately track poverty,” Doro said.
He said the programme will strengthen coordination across humanitarian aid, social protection and poverty reduction, with households placed “at the centre of government support.”

HOPE-SP targets 7.6 million vulnerable households nationwide. Each eligible household will receive a one-off digital shock-response transfer of ₦40,000.
To qualify, beneficiaries must be on the National Social Register and verified with their NIN. The government is working with NIMC to make NIN registration easier.

Doro also defended President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, saying the removal of petrol subsidy had brought more stability.

He dismissed reports that 7 million Nigerians had fallen into poverty under the administration, noting that government efforts were focused on bringing down inflation and rebuilding the economy.

Comparing Nigeria’s situation with China, the minister said poverty reduction takes time.
“It took China 40 years to achieve the scale they achieved, Nigeria can scale up poverty reduction,” he said.

He added that the reforms under Tinubu’s administration had set the country on a path to economic recovery.