Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has revealed that her office currently receives no direct budgetary provision from the federal government. She made this known on Monday during the second quarterly meeting of the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Speaking at the opening session, Mrs. Tinubu appealed to the National Assembly particularly her former colleagues in the Senate to approve annual funding for the Office of the First Lady to support one impactful social project per year.
“Most of the resources I work with are donations from well-meaning Nigerians,” she said. “Whatever I receive is what I distribute to the First Ladies in the various states. It’s not easy. Government doesn’t run my office.”
Mrs. Tinubu expressed her intention to avoid going through the Ministry of Women Affairs, a channel previously used for such funding, stating she would instead pursue direct support from the Senate.
“I spent 12 years in the Senate, and I believe that experience shouldn’t go to waste. If the Senate can approve one project per year for the First Lady, even if it’s N500 million or N1 billion, we can use it responsibly and be accountable.”
While emphasizing her commitment to service, she stated: “We shouldn’t just sit in government houses and do nothing. After my time here, I will return to society, and I want to have contributed meaningfully to its betterment.”
The First Lady explained that her passion and that of the wives of state governors was driven by a desire to support their husbands’ administration and serve the underprivileged.
“We are wives, whether we call ourselves domestic engineers or otherwise. We want to see our husbands succeed and also stand up for the vulnerable and voiceless.”
