When Senator Oluremi Tinubu mounted the altar during the inter-denominational church service at the National Christian Centre in Abuja on the eve of the inauguration of the then president-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu and gracefully announced that she would be one of the oldest first ladies in Nigeria, not many knew she would also go down in history as one of the most influential wives of presidents.

Three years on, the three-term senator has become the unofficial face of the Renewed Hope agenda, the manifesto mantra on which her husband rode to power, championing empowerment and humanitarian programmes worth billions of naira.

Based on publicly available records, Mrs Tinubu has announced or facilitated cash donations worth over N15 billion through the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) from July 2023 to July 2026 and raised over N25bn in 2025 via the Oluremi@65 Education Fund for the completion of the National Library in Abuja. This sum does not include food item donations worth billions of naira made by the President’s wife.

For many observers, the critical question at the heart of these multi-billion naira activities of the Office of the First Lady remains: what is the funding source of the initiative of the president’s wife whose office is neither constitutionally recognised nor captured in the national budget?

Weekend Trust’s analysis, premised on official statements, media reports and events attended by the First Lady, showed that the interventions spanned humanitarian relief, education, healthcare, women empowerment, disability support, agriculture, elderly welfare and disaster response.

Mrs Tinubu made public donations of N2.184bn in 2023, N3.745bn in 2024, N6.15 billion in 2025 and N2.12bn in the first seven months of 2026. While many of the donations were under the RHI, others were personal or routed through intervention programmes.

On July 21, she donated N2bn to support the development of the Akwete weaving industry in Abia State. Two days later, the First Lady distributed N50 million to 1,000 women in Iwo Local Government Area of Osun State to support their small businesses. Earlier, on April 16, the RHI donated N70M to 140 women farmers in the North-West.

Cash gifts to flood victims, widows, scholarships

One of the earliest interventions under the RHI came in July 2023, when the First Lady donated N250,000 each to 57 families affected by flooding at TradeMore Estate in Abuja, amounting to N14.25m.

On August 26, 2023, she announced 43 scholarships worth N4m each to be spread across four academic sessions, running into N172m altogether.

In the same August, the RHI, in partnership with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), launched a digital literacy programme in Benue State where 35 women received training, N100,000 each (N3.5m) and laptops.

During the commissioning of the Community ICT Centre in Vandeikya Local Government Area, Mrs Tinubu also announced a N100m grant.

Governor Hyacinth Alia, who attended the event, described the NITDA/RHI Community ICT Centre as “a transformational project that would provide opportunities for youths, students, farmers, women, and persons with disabilities.”

Still in August, the First Lady distributed N50m to 1,000 female petty traders in Nasarawa, Kaduna and Edo states as part of a nationwide N1.85 billion programme targeting 37,000 women petty traders.

In September 2023, she pledged N1m each to 500 displaced families from Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State. On November 16, 2023, the RHI disbursed N427.75m to 1,709 widows and orphans of fallen military personnel, with each beneficiary receiving N250,000.

“Under the Social Investment Programme of the Renewed Hope Initiative, RHI, we are here to empower 1,709 widows with the sum of N250,000 each. This will enable you to recapitalise an existing business or start a business of your choice to enable you to care for your families. We recognise that widows are not victims; they are survivors,” she stated.

Later in November, Mrs Tinubu launched the “Every Home a Garden” competition, offering a N20m prize to first-time female farmers to encourage household food production.

On December 21, she donated N950m to police and military retirees as well as elderly citizens under the Renewed Hope Initiative Elderly Support Scheme.

“This scheme is to support 250 vulnerable elderly citizens aged 65 and above in all 36 states of the federation and veterans from DEPOWA (Defence and Police Officers’ Wives Association). These selected beneficiaries will receive N100,000 each,” she added.

From left: Benue State governor, Rev. Fr Hyacinth Alia; First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu and the Benue State RHI Coordinator, Mrs Scholarstica Ben-Sur during the presentation of the N50m cheque by the First Lady for the empowerment of 1,000 women petty traders in the state on the sideline of her visit to commission road projects and community ICT center in June, 2026.

RHI’s healthcare support, humanitarian relief

The First Lady began 2024 with an international health intervention. On February 5, the RHI donated $100,000 (about N150m) towards the construction of a hospital for Nigerians living in Sierra Leone. In March, she pledged N1bn towards Nigeria’s campaign to eliminate tuberculosis by 2030.

Following the devastating floods in Maiduguri in September 2024, she donated N500m to victims through the RHI. In October, she donated N1bn for the restoration of the horticultural landscape of her alma mater, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife in Osun State.

On December 18, the initiative donated N50m to support 250 elderly persons in Nasarawa State under the Elderly Support Scheme. She explained that N1.9bn had been approved for elderly citizens nationwide.

“The Governing Board of the Renewed Hope Initiative has decided to increase the initial grant of N100,000 to N200,000 this year to provide further support to our elderly citizens during this festival season.

“A total of N1.9bn will be disbursed across the nation. The RHI coordinators in the 36 states of the federation, the FCT and DEPOWA have received N50m each, out of which N200,000 will be distributed to each beneficiary,” she said.

During the year, she also donated N50m to Joseph Ayo Babalola University as an endowment fund for outstanding female graduating students.

On December 20, the RHI distributed 22,800 bags of rice and N95 million to Christian communities across the 19 Northern states for Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Disability grants, humanitarian interventions in 2025

In February 2025, Mrs Tinubu donated N100 million to “rehabilitate the families” affected by the Niger State tanker explosion.

“We are looking at 70 families. Each family will have N1 million to help them settle while the balance will be shared among them for other extra expenses, like food items and others,” she added.

During the same period, she announced a N50m grant for 1,000 women traders in Kaduna State, distributed 10,000 professional kits to midwives in the North-West and approved N250,000 grants and food items for 200 households of persons with disabilities in Kogi State.

On March 6, 2025, Mrs Tinubu launched a N1.85bn business grant scheme for persons with disabilities, providing N200,000 each to 250 beneficiaries in every state and the Federal Capital Territory. Later in March, she pledged another N1bn toward tuberculosis eradication.

On May 21, the initiative donated N100m to the Five Cowries Art Education Initiative, followed by N1bn for victims of violent attacks in Plateau and Benue states respectively on July 29. On August 6, she announced N1bn and relief materials for flood victims in Niger State.

On September 19, the former senator donated N500m to support more than two million flood victims in Borno State. During the South-East Renewed Hope Initiative flag-off in October, the first ladies in the five South-Eastern states received N10m each on behalf of female farmers in their respective states.

Aside from the First Lady’s publicly disclosed donations, she announced in December 2025 that the Oluremi @65 Education Fund, which was launched to mark her 65th birthday three months earlier, had raised N25,520,708,074.35 for the construction of the National Library in Abuja.

The fundraising is not included in the N14.2bn donations, as the funds were publicly presented as contributions made by donors toward the National Library project rather than direct donations made by the First Lady.

Remi Tinubu secures N66bn pledges for food bank

Mrs Tinubu’s RHI launched the National Community Food Bank Programme in Abuja on April 2, 2026 and secured over N66bn in pledges. She made a personal pledge of N500m.

The commitments included a N20bn pledge in kind from the Aliko Dangote Foundation over five years, N10bn from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), N17bn from the federal government through the Social Action Fund, N500m from the Emeka Offor Foundation and $500,000 from anonymous donors.

State governors were also urged to contribute N500m each.

The new programme preceded the RHI’s Food Outreach Scheme launched in March 2024 to provide food items to persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups to improve their welfare and support their families.

During the donation of food items to vulnerable groups under the scheme on Tuesday in Ondo State, Mrs Tinubu, represented by the wife of the Vice President, Hajia Nana Shettima, reiterated that the Tinubu administration would intensify efforts to combat hunger and child malnutrition through the establishment of community food banks and expanded food outreach programmes.

“No Nigerian should go hungry; that is our mandate and part of our vision for the Renewed Hope Initiative,” she said, adding that the programme is sustained through the support of two unnamed donors who provide two truckloads of food items to the RHI every month. (Weekend Trust)