Tinubu’s wife unveils N110m empowerment scheme for elderly, PWDs

First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu has unveiled a N110 million empowerment package for elderly citizens and persons with disabilities in each participating senatorial district across the country.

The Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) package comprises two programmes, each allocated N55 million, and is expected to benefit 250 people per programme in each district.

Under the RHI Economic Empowerment Programme for Persons with Disabilities, 250 beneficiaries are expected to receive N200,000 each per senatorial district. The RHI Elderly Support Scheme will provide the same amount to 250 elderly beneficiaries in each district.

Senator Tinubu announced the package at a stakeholders’ meeting attended by APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda; Senate President Godswill Akpabio; other APC senators; members of the RHI Governing Board; and APC senatorial candidates.

She urged the candidates to oversee the programme’s implementation and ensure that the funds reach vulnerable Nigerians. She said the decision to work through senatorial candidates followed consultations with political leaders on how best to deliver the intervention, improve coordination and achieve its intended purpose.

At the meeting, held at the Banquet Hall of the State House, the First Lady said the initiative would draw on the candidates’ familiarity with their constituencies to identify vulnerable people and facilitate the distribution of assistance.

She cautioned that the programme must not be restricted to APC members.

“We don’t say give it only to party members, but give it to your voters,” she pleaded with the candidates.

Senator Tinubu said the intervention reflected her longstanding commitment to vulnerable Nigerians, drawing on her experience in public service and empowerment initiatives during her 12 years in the Senate.

“The vulnerable in society are the people we are supposed to care for”.

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She said the RHI had previously supported persons with disabilities and was expanding its empowerment efforts to provide further assistance. She added that the intervention for elderly citizens had reached its fourth edition.

The First Lady said the arrangement would also raise awareness of the RHI’s programmes and help ensure that communities across the country were reached more effectively.

In his remarks, Akpabio commended the First Lady for bringing serving and incoming senators together to coordinate the intervention. He described the meeting as an opportunity to strengthen the delivery of programmes aimed at improving the lives of vulnerable Nigerians.

He said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had approved the arrangement, adding that the initiative was intended to extend assistance beyond party boundaries.

Akpabio urged the candidates to treat the responsibility as a public trust and ensure that the support reached elderly people and persons with disabilities in their constituencies.

He also cited the First Lady’s commitment to women, children and elderly citizens, noting that the RHI had supported displaced communities, vulnerable households and women across the country in the last three years.

He encouraged the candidates to work with other APC political office-seekers in their districts to broaden the programme’s reach.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, commended the First Lady for her empowerment programmes and interventions across the country. He said the RHI’s monthly Food Outreach Programme had reached 31 states.

Abbas described the engagement as historic and praised Senator Tinubu’s commitment to the welfare of women and vulnerable Nigerians.

“On behalf of the House of Representatives, I want to say a big thank you to our mama for all the good things she is doing”.

He said involving senatorial candidates in distributing assistance to elderly citizens and persons with disabilities would help them connect with their constituents and ensure that support reached the intended beneficiaries.

The Speaker urged the candidates to justify the confidence placed in them by the First Lady and the party, and to carry out the assignment. He assured them of continued support and engagement ahead of the polls scheduled for next January.

Yilwatda also commended the First Lady’s interventions, saying the RHI had reached vulnerable communities across the federation through food support, cash assistance and economic empowerment programmes.

He urged the senatorial candidates to involve party structures and other relevant stakeholders in implementing the programme, while ensuring that beneficiaries were selected without discrimination based on ethnicity, religion or political affiliation.

He expressed hope that the initiative would strengthen social cohesion and improve the party’s engagement with communities.