Oluremi Tinubu Unveils ₦12bn Empowerment Package for Elderly, Persons with Disabilities

First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu has unveiled an ₦11.99 billion empowerment package for elderly citizens and persons with disabilities across Nigeria’s 109 senatorial districts.

The initiative, announced on Thursday, October 29, 2026, will provide ₦110 million to each senatorial district through two programmes under the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI).

The announcement was made at a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja attended by the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda; Senate President Godswill Akpabio; APC senators; members of the RHI Governing Board and APC senatorial candidates.

According to a statement by the First Lady’s Senior Special Assistant on Media, Busola Kukoyi, the package comprises two separate programmes, each receiving ₦55 million per senatorial district.

Under the RHI Economic Empowerment Programme for Persons with Disabilities, 250 beneficiaries in each district will receive ₦200,000 each.

The RHI Elderly Support Scheme will also provide ₦200,000 to 250 elderly beneficiaries in each senatorial district.

The First Lady directed APC senatorial candidates to oversee the implementation and ensure that the funds reach deserving beneficiaries, irrespective of their political affiliations.

She explained that the decision to involve the candidates followed consultations on the most effective way to identify vulnerable people and coordinate the distribution of the funds.

“We don’t say give it only to party members, but give it to your voters,” she told the candidates, stressing that the intervention should benefit deserving Nigerians across political divides.

Tinubu said the Renewed Hope Initiative had previously supported persons with disabilities through economic empowerment programmes, while the elderly support intervention was entering its fourth edition.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio commended the First Lady for the initiative and urged the candidates to treat the responsibility as a public trust by ensuring that the funds reach their intended recipients.

APC National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda also urged the candidates to involve party structures in the implementation while ensuring that beneficiaries were selected without discrimination based on political affiliation, ethnicity or religion.

The RHI Economic Empowerment Programme for Persons with Disabilities is scheduled for December 3, 2026, to coincide with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The Elderly Support Scheme is expected to hold on December 17, 2026.

The intervention is aimed at providing financial support to vulnerable Nigerians and improving their economic well-being.