Senior Advocate of Nigeria and human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to hand over N32.7 billion and $445,000 recovered from officials of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA).

Falana, in a statement on Sunday through his Alliance on Surviving Covid-19 and Beyond forum, said the funds should be redirected immediately to their original purpose. He recalled that President Bola Tinubu had approved N32.7 billion in January 2025 for the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), which covers school feeding, N-Power, conditional cash transfers, and support for small businesses under the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme.

The senior lawyer noted that although the EFCC recovered the exact sum of N32.7 billion, along with $445,000 from allegedly corrupt ministry officials, the money had yet to reach the NSIPA despite the Commission’s stated policy of returning recovered funds for their intended use.

“We commend the EFCC and urge it to intensify efforts to recover the outstanding N20 billion still unaccounted for,” Falana said. “But more importantly, the recovered N32.7 billion and $445,000 should be transferred to the National Social Investment Programme Agency to help alleviate the hardship faced by over 133 million multi-dimensionally poor Nigerians.”

Falana also pressed federal, state, and local governments to increase their contributions to social programmes, pointing to a sharp rise in government revenues. He cited figures from the Federation Account Allocation Committee showing that N2.001 trillion was shared in July 2025 from a gross total of N3.836 trillion, while N1.8 trillion was distributed in June 2025.

“Governments must go beyond lip service and invest meaningfully in social protection programmes. They must put their money where their mouth is,” he said.