By SALISU SANI-IDRIS

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the establishment of the Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund to raise 5 billion dollars annually.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, disclosed thiswhile briefing State House Correspondents on the outcome of the FEC meeting, held on Monday, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Edu said, “Every year we hope to be able to raise at least 5 billion dollars within this fund and this is from the various fund and sources.

“We are hopeful that with the creation of this funding, we can sit down with all the key stakeholders including other ministries and actually work out the full modalities of implementation in Nigeria”.

The minister expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu for the approval for the creation of the Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund.

“The council approved for the establishment of the Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Trust fund to actually be put together under a governing board.

“And then of course, the implementation of that humanitarian and poverty trust fund, would be carefullyworked out by members of the committee.

“Of course, it will involve the Minister of Finance and other ministers that are relevant to the process. This is a flexible form of financing that is supposed to help Nigeria adequately respond to humanitarian crisis.

“This will also respond to challenges as well as adequately address the issue of poverty in Nigeria and bring victory for the poor and indeed, bring help and succor which the Renewed Hope Agenda stands for,” she said.

Edu further said that the fund wasa flexible form of financing that could help the government get contributions from different sectors.

She added that the fund would get contributions from the government, private sector, development partners, philanthropic individuals and other innovativeform of funding.

“This is to allow for emergency response to humanitarian crisis in Nigeria. Every other day we hear about crisis, the flood and the rest of it. So we need to be able to respond adequately as a country.

“Beyond this, the issue of poverty reduction is one of the agenda of the President Bola Tinubu in his eight point agenda and we have to tackle it headlong,” she said

The minister also revealed that the FEC has ratified the protocol on the protection of the rights of older persons in the country.

“The Federal Executive Council, where the chairman of Council and members of council took decisions to ratify the protocol on the protection of the rights of older persons in Nigeria.

“We have signed up to the African Charter and this has made us one of the countries within Africa that has approved that older people be protected and should not be discriminated against at any level.

“And this gives them a lot of protection and the government of President Bola Tinubu is interested in their welfare and protecting their rights,” the minister said. (NAN)