A bill set to establish the National Poverty Alleviation Management Commission passed its second reading in the Senate.
Nigeria was ranked the poverty capital of the world in 2021 with over 80 million Nigerians in abject poverty. For instance, World Bank data shows that 4 out of every 10 Nigerians live below the poverty line.
The bill is labelled “A Bill for an act to establish the National Poverty Alleviation Management Commission”.
This comes after the presentation of the lead debate on the bill by the sponsor, Sen. Kabir Barkiya (APC-Katsina) during plenary, The Nation reports.
Barkiya, while leading the debate on the general principles of the bill, said the bill was first presented on 19 January.
According to him, its implementation would bring about a huge impact on the eradication of poverty in Nigeria.
“The passage of the bill will effectively and efficiently regulate all forms of funds provided to alleviate poverty in the land, especially to remedy the suffering of our citizens,” he said.
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The lawmaker added that the bill would vastly curtail youth restiveness arising from poverty and unemployment by creating an available fund available for productive use in a transparent manner so as to accomplish the core objective.
Thereafter, Senate President, Ahmad Lawan referred the bill to the Senate Committee on Poverty Alleviation for further legislative matter and reported back within four weeks.
Moreover, Sen. Adamu Aliero (PDP-Kebbi) while seconding the debate, said poverty has risen to a dire percentage in Nigeria so that over 80 per cent of the population lives in abject poverty in some Nigerian states.
“Billions of naira have been budgeted annually for poverty alleviation but it doesn’t reach the target population,” he lamented.
Aliero said there was a need to coordinate all funds for poverty alleviation to ensure they got to the targeted population.
