Historical Apoplexy  ·  State Legislative Adaptations  ·  Nigeria

Nigeria Food, Resource, and Commodity Assurance Act

A Westminster-Parliament adaptation of Historical Apoplexy

Parliamentary (Westminster) path Nigeria PDF available
The Nigeria Food, Resource, and Commodity Assurance Act is a state legislative adaptation of Imran Cooper's Historical Apoplexy, a five-division proposal establishing at-cost food and commodity distribution centers (modeled on the U.S. Defense Commissary Agency, operational since 1867 under 10 U.S.C. § 2484), a public-health-equity framework grounded in the Marmot/Sapolsky/Shively/Blackburn hierarchy-kills evidence, a K-20 developmental pipeline incorporating the Vitruvian Quotient assessment and structured-adversity protocol from Paper X (the Maturity Void), a structured public-service requirement, and general provisions. Benchmarked to the Colorado proposal originally drafted in 2016 through the Sassafras and Maple Research Foundation. Constitutional path: Parliamentary (Westminster) path.
              PARLIAMENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
                  Tenth National Assembly / 2026 Session

                  DRAFT BILL

INTRODUCED BY ________ (Member of the National Assembly)

                  CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NIGERIA
                  FOOD, RESOURCE, AND COMMODITY ASSURANCE
                  PROGRAMME
                  A BILL FOR AN ACT

LONG TITLE

AN ACT OF THE PARLIAMENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA concerning the establishment of the Nigeria Food, Resource, and Commodity Assurance Programme; the establishment of Nigerian Food Assurance Centres (NFAC) in every state and the Federal Capital Territory, and in every Local Government Area, on a phased rollout commencing on the effective date of this Act; the conferral of an at-cost basic-needs commodity entitlement on every citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ordinarily resident in the Federation, identified by the 11-digit National Identification Number (NIN) issued by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), enrolled through the existing National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO) under the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) and the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer infrastructure; coordination with the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), the Bank of Industry (BOI), the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), and the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) for capital investment and credit guarantees; coordination with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the 36 state Ministries of Agriculture, and the Nigerian agricultural cooperative sector under the Co- operative Societies Act; coordination with NIPOST and the esusu / ajo / adashe rotating savings and credit associations for community-scale at-cost distribution; coordination with Food Bank Nigeria, the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS), and the faith-based distribution networks of the Christian Association of Nigeria and Jamatu Nasril Islam (JNI) for delivery partnership; consistency with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), particularly Section 14(2)(b) (the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government), Section 16 (economic objectives), Section 17 (social objectives), and Section 18 (educational objectives) of Chapter II, and Section 224 of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act on CBN monetary policy independence; consistency with the philosophical heritage of the Independence Declaration of 1 October 1960, Democracy Day of 12 June 1993 / 12 June 2018 statutory reframing, the 1914 Amalgamation, the 1999 return to civilian rule, and the tri-cultural Omoluabi (Yoruba) + Imeobi (Igbo) + Mutunci (Hausa) human-dignity tradition; explicit declination to establish any new Nigerian personal income tax, companies income tax, value-added tax, petroleum profits tax, customs duty, excise duty, or other Nigerian tax of any kind for the funding of the Programme; and provision for connected purposes.

LEGISLATIVE ROUTING NOTE

This Draft Bill is for introduction in the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria during the Tenth National Assembly, 2026 Session, under the legislative-initiative provisions of Section 58 of the Constitution.

The Bill is processed through both the House of Representatives and the Senate per the Constitution's bicameral requirement.

Suggested committee referrals following First Reading:

- Senate Committee on Finance + House Committee on Finance: lead for fiscal provisions and NSIA + BOI + DBN + BOA coordination - Senate Committee on Industry + House Committee on Industry: for the productive-capacity and BOI coordination provisions - Senate Committee on Agriculture + House Committee on Agricultural Production and Services: for the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, BOA, and cooperative-sector coordination provisions - Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions + House Committee on Banking and Currency: for the CBN, BVN-NIN linkage, and Renewed Hope CCT distribution provisions - Senate Committee on Special Duties + House Committee on Special Duties: for the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) and NCTO coordination - Senate Committee on FCT + House Committee on FCT: for the FCT-specific provisions and Abuja metropolitan rollout - Senate Committee on Cooperation and Integration in Africa + House Committee on Cooperation and Integration in Africa: for the regional cooperation provisions (ECOWAS context coordination if invoked) - Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence + House Committee on Defence: for the Nigerian Armed Forces strategic-reserve coordination - Senate Committee on Health + House Committee on Health Care Services: for the public-health coordination provisions

Following passage by both Chambers and harmonisation under the Conference Committee mechanism, the Bill is presented to the President for assent under Section 58 of the Constitution and publication in the Federal Government Gazette.

DIVISION I - FOOD ASSURANCE

ARTICLE 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NIGERIA FOOD, RESOURCE, AND

            COMMODITY ASSURANCE PROGRAMME.

(1) There is hereby established the Nigeria Food, Resource,

    and Commodity Assurance Programme ("the Programme"),
    administered by the Minister of Special Duties and
    Inter-Governmental Affairs (coordinating with the National
    Social Investment Programme Agency / NSIPA) in
    coordination with the Minister of Finance, the Minister of
    Industry, Trade and Investment, the Minister of Agriculture
    and Food Security, the Minister of Health, the Minister of
    the Federal Capital Territory, the 36 state Governors and
    their respective Executive Councils, and the 774 Local
    Government Area Chairmen.

(2) The Programme shall operate Nigerian Food Assurance

    Centres ("NFAC") in every state and the Federal Capital
    Territory, and in every Local Government Area, on a
    phased rollout under Title VII below, with priority
    deployment in:
    (a) the highest-food-insecurity Local Government Areas
        in the six geopolitical zones, including the North-
        East (Borno, Yobe, Adamawa) and the North-West (Zamfara,
        Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina) where the post-2009 insurgency
        context has produced sustained acute food insecurity;
    (b) the Niger Delta states (Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross
        River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo, Rivers) under the
        post-petroleum-subsidy-removal workforce-reskilling
        priority;
    (c) the major metropolitan agglomerations of Lagos State
        (the Lagos Mainland and Lagos Island, including the
        Makoko, Ajegunle, Mushin, Oshodi-Isolo, and Agege
        catchment areas), Kano State (Kano metropolitan), the
        Federal Capital Territory (Abuja Municipal Area
        Council and the satellite settlements), Rivers State
        (Port Harcourt), Oyo State (Ibadan), and Kaduna
        State (Kaduna metropolitan).

ARTICLE 2. ENTITLEMENT TO PARTICIPATE.

(1) Every citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

    ordinarily resident in the Federation, identified by the
    11-digit National Identification Number (NIN) issued by
    the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), is
    automatically entitled to participate in the Programme.

(2) Foreign nationals lawfully resident in Nigeria who hold

    a Nigerian residence permit and an associated identifier
    issued by the Nigeria Immigration Service, including
    holders of ECOWAS protocol residence and refugees
    documented under the National Commission for Refugees,
    Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), are
    likewise entitled.

(3) Participation is voluntary. No citizen or lawful

    resident is required to obtain goods through the
    Programme; the existing commercial retail market
    continues to operate unaffected.

ARTICLE 3. PROGRAMME GOODS AND AT-COST PRICING.

(1) NFAC outlets shall offer for distribution at production

    cost plus reasonable distribution allowance:
    (a) Staple foods (rice, garri, fufu, maize, sorghum,
        millet, yam, cassava, plantain, beans, groundnut,
        cooking oils including palm oil and groundnut oil,
        sugar, salt, tea, coffee, consistent with Nigerian
        dietary tradition across the six geopolitical zones
        and the major ethno-cultural groupings);
    (b) Protein sources (beef, chicken, goat meat, eggs,
        fish from Nigerian coastal and inland fisheries,
        suya / kilishi cured meats per regional tradition,
        dairy products including fura da nono, soybean
        products, locust-bean / iru / dawadawa);
    (c) Vegetables and fruits sourced where possible from
        Nigerian producers including okra, tomatoes, onions,
        peppers, leafy greens (ugu / efo / ewedu), citrus,
        mangoes, pineapples, plantains, cocoa products
        (Nigeria is one of the world's largest cocoa
        producers, in Cross River, Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, Ogun);
    (d) Basic clothing including school uniforms aligned with
        state-curriculum requirements, weather-appropriate
        clothing for the Nigerian climate (the harmattan
        season in the North and the rainy / humid season in
        the South), and footwear;
    (e) Hand tools, household goods, basic kitchen and
        cleaning supplies, and water-storage containers
        (the water-storage provision recognises the recurring
        municipal water-supply interruptions documented
        across many Nigerian states);
    (f) Educational supplies for learners through the
        developmental window extended to age 25 under the
        broader Compendium proposal;
    (g) Basic baby and child supplies;
    (h) Emergency-preparedness supplies (water, non-
        perishable food, basic lighting, candles, kerosene
        or LPG cookers where applicable, prepaid mobile-
        network data vouchers) given the recurring power-
        supply-interruption context and the seasonal
        flooding context across the Niger and Benue River
        basins.

(2) Pricing shall be calculated on the at-cost basis. The

    DeCA (Defense Commissary Agency) precedent has operated
    this model in the United States since 1867 by contracting
    with private suppliers under 10 USC Section 2484
    (verified in Universal Foundational Citation E above).
    The Programme inherits that operational discipline:
    contract with Nigerian private producers, operate the
    retail point at cost plus a reasonable distribution
    allowance, leave the commercial market untouched.

ARTICLE 4. COORDINATION WITH AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES, THE

            FEDERAL MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY,
            AND THE BANK OF AGRICULTURE.

(1) The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, in

    coordination with the 36 state Ministries of Agriculture,
    the Bank of Agriculture (BOA), and the Nigerian
    agricultural cooperative sector registered under the
    Co-operative Societies Act, is directed to enter
    partnership agreements with Nigerian agricultural
    cooperatives for the supply of Nigerian-grown
    agricultural commodities to the Programme.

(2) The partnership shall preserve cooperative autonomy and

    membership governance per the Co-operative Societies Act,
    and shall coordinate with the Anchor Borrowers Programme
    (administered by the Central Bank of Nigeria), the
    National Livestock Transformation Plan, the Green
    Imperative Programme, and the federal-state agricultural
    extension services.

(3) The indigenous Nigerian cooperative tradition (esusu /

    ajo / adashe / asusu rotating savings and credit
    associations together with the formal Cooperative
    Thrift Societies registered under the Co-operative
    Societies Act) is recognised as a Nigerian institutional
    resource and is expressly preserved by this Act.

(4) Partnership agreements shall maintain the established

    cooperative principles articulated in the Co-operative
    Societies Act, including voluntary and open membership,
    democratic member control, member economic
    participation, autonomy and independence, education and
    information, cooperation among cooperatives, and concern
    for community.

ARTICLE 5. DELIVERY PARTNERSHIP WITH FOOD BANK NIGERIA, THE

            NIGERIAN RED CROSS SOCIETY, AND THE FAITH-BASED
            DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS.

(1) The Programme is authorised to enter delivery-partnership

    agreements with Food Bank Nigeria, the Nigerian Red
    Cross Society (NRCS), the Christian Association of
    Nigeria social-services arms, the Jamatu Nasril Islam
    (JNI) social-services arms, and other accredited
    humanitarian organisations for last-mile distribution
    at the LGA and ward level.

(2) Partnership agreements shall preserve the independent

    governance of those organisations and shall not transfer
    Programme commodities for any purpose other than the
    at-cost distribution mandate of this Act.

(3) Existing food-aid and feeding programmes administered by

    Food Bank Nigeria, the NRCS, the National Home Grown
    School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) under NSIPA, and
    other accredited humanitarian organisations are
    preserved and may be coordinated with, but are not
    displaced by, this Act.

DIVISION II - PUBLIC HEALTH PROMOTION, (Marmot quartet structural rationale)

ARTICLE 6. STRUCTURAL RATIONALE - HIERARCHY ITSELF KILLS.

(1) The Parliament finds, on the basis of Universal

    Foundational Citation C (Marmot quartet), that the
    structural mechanism of hierarchy-related mortality and
    morbidity operates through the chronic-stress
    physiological pathway documented across the Whitehall
    studies, the Sapolsky Serengeti baboon cohort, the
    Shively cynomolgus-macaque cingulate-cortex serotonin
    work, and the Blackburn Nobel-Prize-winning telomere
    research. The gap is the gradient, not the deprivation.
    Treating sickness downstream of an untreated gradient is
    documented to fail across four research programmes, six
    decades, and three species. Hierarchy itself kills.

(2) Nigerian regional, ethnic, and rural-urban stratification

    gradients (the Lagos and Abuja metropolitan complexes on
    one hand and the North-East / North-West rural areas
    most affected by the post-2009 insurgency context on
    the other) translate directly into the Marmot pathway at
    population scale. This Act addresses the gradient at the
    basic-needs layer at which the Marmot quartet finds most
    aggressive health-pathway damage.

ARTICLE 7. PUBLIC HEALTH COORDINATION.

(1) The Programme operates in coordination with the Minister

    of Health, the Federal Ministry of Health, the 36 state
    Ministries of Health, the National Primary Health Care
    Development Agency (NPHCDA), and the National Health
    Insurance Authority (NHIA, established under the
    National Health Insurance Authority Act, 2022) to
    monitor and to contribute to the reduction of basic-needs
    food insecurity and stress-mediated public-health
    conditions across all six geopolitical zones.

(2) The Minister of Health shall report annually to the

    National Assembly on the relationship between NFAC
    access at the LGA level and Nigerian population health
    indicators, consistent with Section 14(2)(b) of the
    Constitution (the security and welfare of the people
    shall be the primary purpose of government) and the
    Section 17 social-objectives directive.

(3) Coordination shall include the rollout of the National

    Health Insurance Authority framework where the
    Programme's basic-needs distribution intersects with NHIA
    primary-care service delivery at the LGA level.

DIVISION III - EDUCATION MODERNISATION

ARTICLE 8. EDUCATION PIPELINE AND THE EXTENDED DEVELOPMENTAL

            WINDOW.

(1) The Nigerian education system is acknowledged by this Act

    as a foundation for the developmental pipeline proposed
    by the Vitruvian Quotient framework (Cooper, 2026). The
    existing Universal Basic Education (UBE, primary and
    junior-secondary) administered through the Universal
    Basic Education Commission (UBEC), the Senior Secondary
    Education administered by state Ministries of Education,
    and the tertiary education administered by the National
    Universities Commission (NUC), the National Board for
    Technical Education (NBTE), and the National Commission
    for Colleges of Education (NCCE), form the chassis on
    which the extension of the developmental window to age
    25 is proposed under the broader Compendium.

(2) Universal Foundational Citation D (PIAAC 2023) documents

    the international competency-collapse pattern. Nigeria is
    not a PIAAC participant; the equivalent Nigerian
    evidence comes from the National Bureau of Statistics
    literacy surveys, the UBEC reports, and the National
    Population Commission school-attendance returns. The
    pattern documented internationally is consistent with the
    Nigerian evidence: a competency collapse at the bottom
    of the regional and rural-urban gradient that the Marmot
    quartet shows is itself a health pathway.

(3) The Minister of Education and the Minister of State for

    Education are directed to prepare a joint report to the
    National Assembly within twenty-four months of the
    effective date of this Act on the operational steps
    required to extend developmental and competency-
    maintenance arrangements beyond the current post-school
    structure, in coordination with the University of Ibadan
    (founded 1948, the oldest university in Nigeria), the
    University of Lagos, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, the
    University of Nigeria Nsukka, the Obafemi Awolowo
    University, the National Open University of Nigeria
    (NOUN), the National Mathematical Centre, the African
    University of Science and Technology Abuja, the Nigeria
    Defence Academy Kaduna, and the West African Examinations
    Council (WAEC).

(4) The Vitruvian Quotient framework (Cooper, 2026) is

    recognised by this Act as the conceptual instrument for
    the developmental pipeline. Detailed implementation of a
    Nigeria Education Modernisation Act is the subject of a
    separate Bill.

DIVISION IV - FUNDING

ARTICLE 9. INITIAL APPROPRIATION.

(1) For the financial year 2027 there is appropriated from

    the Federation Account through the Annual Appropriation
    Act the sum of N250 billion for the establishment of the
    Programme and the initial operation of NFAC outlets,
    scaled to the Nigerian population of approximately 232
    million.

(2) Subsequent annual appropriations shall be made in the

    ordinary annual Appropriation Act.

ARTICLE 10. COORDINATION WITH THE NIGERIA SOVEREIGN INVESTMENT

            AUTHORITY, THE BANK OF INDUSTRY, THE DEVELOPMENT
            BANK OF NIGERIA, AND THE BANK OF AGRICULTURE.

(1) NFAC infrastructure capital investment may, by agreement

    between the Programme and the Nigeria Sovereign
    Investment Authority (NSIA), be co-financed through the
    Nigeria Infrastructure Fund (NIF) of the NSIA, up to a
    cumulative outstanding principal of N500 billion.

(2) Programme manufacturing and processing capacity

    development may, by agreement between the Programme and
    the Bank of Industry (BOI), be co-financed through BOI
    industrial-finance instruments, up to a cumulative
    outstanding principal of N300 billion.

(3) Programme MSME-supply-chain coordination may, by

    agreement between the Programme and the Development
    Bank of Nigeria (DBN), be co-financed through DBN
    wholesale facilities to Participating Financial
    Institutions, up to a cumulative outstanding principal
    of N200 billion.

(4) Programme agricultural-supply-chain coordination may,

    by agreement between the Programme and the Bank of
    Agriculture (BOA), be co-financed through BOA
    agricultural-finance instruments, up to a cumulative
    outstanding principal of N150 billion.

(5) The NSIA's role under the 2011 NSIA Act, the BOI's role

    as the longest-serving Nigerian Development Finance
    Institution, the DBN's wholesale-PFI model, and the
    BOA's agricultural-finance mandate make them the natural
    Nigerian indigenous coordination partners for Programme
    capital investment. This Act does not direct, instruct,
    or constrain any NSIA, BOI, DBN, or BOA financing
    decision; coordination under this Article is by
    agreement only.

(6) For Programme functions exceeding the existing NSIA, BOI,

    DBN, and BOA mandates, the Programme may operate under
    the sibling Nigeria Productive Capacity Authority and
    Energy Security Act.

ARTICLE 11. COORDINATION WITH THE RENEWED HOPE CONDITIONAL

            CASH TRANSFER AND THE FEDERATION ACCOUNT.

(1) NFAC infrastructure capital investment may, by agreement

    between the Programme and the National Treasury Office,
    be coordinated with the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash
    Transfer (RH-CCT) programme of NSIPA / NCTO and with the
    National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP)
    where the Programme's basic-needs distribution
    complements those programmes' cash and feeding-support
    distributions.

(2) Programme coordination with state and LGA fiscal

    frameworks shall operate within the existing
    intergovernmental fiscal architecture administered
    through the Federation Account Allocation Committee
    (FAAC) and the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and
    Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).

(3) The Programme does not displace any existing Renewed

    Hope CCT, NHGSFP, Anchor Borrowers Programme, Green
    Imperative Programme, or other federal social-protection
    or agricultural-development programme.

DIVISION V - GENERAL PROVISIONS

ARTICLE 12. NO NEW TAXATION.

(1) The Parliament declares that no new Nigerian personal

    income tax, companies income tax, value-added tax,
    petroleum profits tax, fuel levy, excise duty, customs
    duty, or other Nigerian tax of any kind is established,
    extended, or increased by this Act for the funding of
    the Programme.

(2) The Programme is funded through existing Nigerian

    fiscal infrastructure as enumerated in Division IV,
    consistent with the constitutional fiscal framework in
    Chapter VI of the Constitution and the Public Finance
    framework administered by the Federal Ministry of
    Finance, Budget and National Planning.

ARTICLE 13. EXISTING NIGERIAN INSTITUTIONS UNAFFECTED.

This Act does not affect the establishment, functions, governance, or operation of:

(a) The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the monetary

    policy independence guaranteed under the Central Bank
    of Nigeria Act, No. 7 of 2007;

(b) The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), the

    Bank of Industry (BOI), the Development Bank of
    Nigeria (DBN), and the Bank of Agriculture (BOA), beyond
    the coordination expressly authorised by Article 10;

(c) NNPC Limited (incorporated under CAMA in furtherance of

    the Petroleum Industry Act 2021), the Nigerian Upstream
    Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Nigerian
    Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority
    (NMDPRA), and other petroleum-sector state-owned or
    state-controlled enterprises;

(d) The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), the

    Generation Companies (GenCos), the Distribution
    Companies (DisCos), the Nigerian Bulk Electricity
    Trading Company (NBET), the Nigerian Independent System
    Operator (ISO), the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory
    Commission (NERC), the Rural Electrification Agency
    (REA), and other power-sector state-owned or state-
    controlled enterprises, beyond the coordination
    expressly authorised by the sibling Nigeria Productive
    Capacity Authority and Energy Security Act;

(e) The National Social Investment Programme Agency

    (NSIPA), the National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO), the
    National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), the
    Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the National
    Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the National Population
    Commission, the National Identity Database (NIDB), and
    other state agencies, beyond the coordination
    expressly authorised by this Act;

(f) The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), beyond the

    co-delivery coordination authorised by this Act;

(g) The Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer (RH-CCT),

    the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme
    (NHGSFP), the Anchor Borrowers Programme, the Green
    Imperative Programme, and other federal social-
    protection or agricultural-development programmes,
    beyond the coordination expressly authorised by
    Article 11;

(h) Nigerian agricultural cooperatives, consumer

    cooperatives, Cooperative Thrift Societies, esusu /
    ajo / adashe rotating savings and credit associations,
    and the indigenous Nigerian cooperative tradition
    generally, beyond the partnership coordination
    authorised by Article 4;

(i) Food Bank Nigeria, the Nigerian Red Cross Society

    (NRCS), the Christian Association of Nigeria social-
    services arms, the Jamatu Nasril Islam (JNI) social-
    services arms, and other accredited humanitarian
    organisations, beyond the delivery partnership
    authorised by Article 5;

(j) The National Assembly (Senate and House of

    Representatives), the President of the Federal
    Republic, the Federal Executive Council, the Supreme
    Court, the Court of Appeal, the Federal Judicial
    Service Commission, the National Human Rights
    Commission, the Independent National Electoral
    Commission (INEC), the Code of Conduct Bureau, the
    Public Complaints Commission, and every other Federal
    Government institution established by the Constitution.

ARTICLE 14. CONSTITUTIONAL CONSISTENCY.

(1) This Act is enacted consistent with the Constitution of

    the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended),
    particularly Section 14(2)(b) (the security and welfare
    of the people shall be the primary purpose of
    government), Section 16 (economic objectives), Section
    17 (social objectives), Section 18 (educational
    objectives), Chapter II (Fundamental Objectives and
    Directive Principles of State Policy), Chapter VI
    (Executive), and Chapter VIII (Federal Capital Territory,
    Abuja, and General Supplementary Provisions).

(2) The Parliament records its understanding that Section

    14(2)(b)'s declaration that the security and welfare of
    the people shall be the primary purpose of government,
    read together with Section 16's economic-objectives
    directive that the State shall control the national
    economy to secure the maximum welfare, freedom, and
    happiness of every citizen on the basis of social
    justice and equality of status and opportunity, supports
    the legislative measure adopted by this Act.

ARTICLE 15. EFFECTIVE DATE.

(1) This Act takes effect on 1 April 2027, except that

    Article 9 (Initial Appropriation) takes effect on the
    date this Act is assented to and published in the
    Federal Government Gazette, and Article 1 (Establishment)
    takes effect ninety days after publication.

(2) The President is requested, and the Minister of Special

    Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs in concurrence
    with the National Social Investment Programme Agency
    (NSIPA), is directed, to issue implementing regulations
    within 120 days of publication.

(3) Initial Programme distribution is targeted for 1 October

    2027, being Independence Day, the anniversary of the
    Federal Republic of Nigeria's attainment of independence
    from the United Kingdom on 1 October 1960.

ARTICLE 16. INTERPRETATION.

In this Act -

"the Programme" means the Nigeria Food, Resource, and Commodity Assurance Programme established under Article 1;

"a NFAC outlet" means a Nigerian Food Assurance Centre established under Article 1;

"the 11-digit National Identification Number" or "NIN" means the personal identification number issued by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) under the National Identity Management Commission Act, 2007;

"NSIA" means the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority established under the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (Establishment, Etc.) Act, 2011;

"BOI" means the Bank of Industry Limited;

"DBN" means the Development Bank of Nigeria;

"BOA" means the Bank of Agriculture;

"NNPC Limited" means the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited incorporated under the Companies and Allied Matters Act in furtherance of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021;

"TCN" means the Transmission Company of Nigeria;

"NERC" means the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission;

"the Electricity Act 2023" means the Electricity Act, 2023 (replacing the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005);

"NSIPA" means the National Social Investment Programme Agency;

"NCTO" means the National Cash Transfer Office;

"the Renewed Hope CCT" or "RH-CCT" means the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer programme administered by NCTO under NSIPA;

"NIMC" means the National Identity Management Commission;

"BVN" means the Bank Verification Number issued by Nigerian banks under Central Bank of Nigeria authority;

"the Co-operative Societies Act" means the Nigerian Co- operative Societies Act providing for the registration and operation of co-operative societies throughout the Federation;

"esusu", "ajo", "adashe", and "asusu" mean the Nigerian indigenous rotating savings and credit associations of the Yoruba, Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo cultural traditions respectively;

"the Marmot quartet" means the four research programmes identified in Universal Foundational Citation C above (Marmot Whitehall, Sapolsky Serengeti baboons, Shively cynomolgus macaques, Blackburn telomere research);

"the replication threshold" means the Casey Handmer formulation identified in Universal Foundational Citation A above;

"the Renewed Hope agenda" means the policy agenda of the Tinubu administration following the inauguration of 29 May 2023;

"Omoluabi" means the Yoruba cultural ideal of integrity, character, and communal responsibility;

"Imeobi" means the Igbo cultural ideal of brotherhood and communal solidarity;

"Mutunci" means the Hausa cultural ideal of human dignity and personhood;

"ordinarily resident" has the meaning given by the National Identity Management Commission Act, 2007, and Nigerian immigration law.

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