First Lady Oluremi Tinubu has announced cash support of ₦200,000 each for selected elderly Nigerians and people with disabilities, with All Progressives Congress senatorial candidates asked to coordinate distribution in their districts.
The Renewed Hope Initiative programme was unveiled at a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja on Thursday, 29 October. It targets 250 elderly people and 250 people with disabilities in each senatorial district, under two separate interventions.
A statement issued by the First Lady’s media aide, Busola Kukoyi, put the allocation for each programme at ₦55 million per district. The combined allocation is ₦110 million, amounting to ₦11.99 billion across Nigeria’s 109 senatorial districts.
The announced beneficiary payments total ₦50 million for each group in a district. The cash support is planned assistance, rather than confirmation that the money has already reached recipients.
The programme for people with disabilities is scheduled for 3 December, coinciding with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The elderly support intervention is scheduled for 17 December.
Tinubu told the candidates that assistance must extend beyond members of the ruling party. She said their familiarity with communities could help identify vulnerable people and improve coordination of the distribution.
“We don’t say give it only to party members, but give it to your voters,” she said.
The decision places APC candidates in a coordinating role for a welfare intervention ahead of the 2027 elections. Tinubu said the arrangement followed consultations with political leaders about how to reach intended beneficiaries.
She said she had considered other approaches, including working through state coordinators and traditional rulers, before choosing the senatorial district model. The meeting included APC leaders, senators, candidates and members of the RHI board.
The First Lady described the intervention for elderly citizens as the fourth edition of the support scheme. She said the initiative had previously assisted people with disabilities and was renewing and expanding that support.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio said President Bola Tinubu had approved the arrangement. He urged candidates to regard the assignment as a public trust and ensure that assistance reached elderly people and people with disabilities in their constituencies.
Akpabio also called for cooperation with other APC office-seekers in the districts to extend the programme’s reach.
APC National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda urged candidates to involve relevant stakeholders while selecting beneficiaries without discrimination on grounds of ethnicity, religion or political affiliation.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas also attended. He said the RHI’s separate monthly food outreach programme had reached 31 states. That figure relates to food distribution, rather than the cash support announced at Thursday’s meeting.
Tinubu linked the initiative to her interest in support for vulnerable Nigerians during 12 years in the Senate. She said the district approach was also intended to make communities more aware of RHI programmes and help the initiative reach people across the country.
The proposed cash payments cover two groups through separate programmes. Under the announced structure, each district is expected to identify 250 recipients for the disability intervention and another 250 for elderly support.
Photo: RHI stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja, 29 October 2026, via Punch. Photographer not identified.
