Dr Betta Edu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, says President Bola Tinubu has directed her ministry to reserve 10 per cent of social safety net intervention for older persons.

This was contained in a statement issued on Thursday by her Media aide, Mr Rasheed Zubair, in Abuja.

It stated that the minister was speaking during a stakeholders’ meeting to commemorate the 2023 National Day of Older Persons in Nigeria.

“Mr President has directed that my Ministry should set aside 10% of social safety net intervention programmes for older persons in the country.

“The rights of senior citizens in the areas of job security, health, livelihood, agriculture and other development planning must be considered.

“Presently, older persons are said to be about 14.8 million out of the entire population, that is why the President directed that in all our social welfare interfaces older persons must be involved,” she said.

Edu assured the senior citizens of the federal government’s resolve to provide them with necessary support towards improving the quality of their lives.

“The President also directed that those who are under the poverty line must be assisted and captured in the social interventions programmes.

“We would inaugurate two of such social intervention programmes with emphasis on senior citizens because we will be providing for senior citizens who are affected by humanitarian crises,” she said.