First Lady Oluremi Tinubu on Thursday unveiled a N110 million empowerment package for elderly citizens and persons with disabilities in each participating senatorial district, assigning the ruling All Progressives Congress’s Senate candidates a central role in identifying and reaching beneficiaries.
Senior Special Assistant, Media, to the First Lady Busola Kukoyi in a statement said the initiative, delivered through the First Lady’s Renewed Hope Initiative, comprises two programmes of N55 million each.
She said, in every participating district, 250 elderly Nigerians and 250 people with disabilities are expected to receive N200,000 apiece.
Mrs.Tinubu announced the plan at a stakeholders’ meeting attended by APC National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, serving and incoming senators, members of the initiative’s governing board and APC senatorial candidates.
According to the First Lady, the senatorial-candidate model followed consultations with political leaders and was intended to improve coordination by drawing on candidates’ knowledge of their constituencies.
The First Lady said she had also considered using state coordinators and traditional rulers before settling on the current approach.
“We don’t say give it only to party members, but give it to your voters,” Mrs. Tinubu told the candidates, stressing that the assistance should reach deserving people regardless of political, religious or ethnic affiliation.
The programme expands the Renewed Hope Initiative’s earlier support for persons with disabilities and marks the fourth edition of its elderly-support scheme.
The disability-focused financial-support program is tied to the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Dec. 3, while the elderly-support scheme is scheduled for December 17.
The arrangement places welfare delivery in the hands of APC candidates ahead of elections scheduled for January 16, 2027, giving the party a visible role in distributing aid while testing its ability to reach vulnerable households.
Senate President Akpabio said President Bola Tinubu had approved the arrangement and urged the candidates to treat the assignment as a public trust.
He said the initiative was designed to extend support beyond party boundaries and praised the First Lady’s work with displaced communities, vulnerable households and women over the past three years.
House of Representatives Speaker Abbas Tajudeen described the meeting as historic and said the Renewed Hope Initiative’s monthly food-outreach program had reached 31 states. He urged the candidates to justify the confidence placed in them and ensure that assistance reaches intended recipients.
APC Chairman Yilwatda I’m his remarks said the party’s structures and other stakeholders should be involved in implementation, while beneficiary selection must avoid discrimination based on ethnicity, religion or political affiliation.
He said the programme could strengthen social cohesion and improve the party’s engagement with communities.
