THE Federal Government has described as unacceptable the high level of poverty in the country and called on state governments to join in the efforts to reduce the menace.
Secretary to the Government of Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, made the appeal on Thursday in Abuja during the first quarter 2022 meeting of the Secretary to the Government Federation with Secretaries to State Governments’ Forum.
He particularly tasked the Secretaries to the State Governments to work to reduce the unacceptable levels of poverty in the country in line with the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.
He said the call became imperative in a build up to 2023 general elections; for political office holders not to be distracted by electioneering campaigns, but remain focus on delivery of democratic dividend to the people.
He said: “The main reason for starting this meeting with an update on how the National Social Investment Programme is working towards achieving President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty is to consistently remind us that whatever we do in our various offices must translate to reducing the unacceptable levels of poverty in the country.
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“If we allow distractions from electioneering campaigns to detract us, then we would be unable to reduce the present poverty indices and would fail in our collective responsibility to make our various states better than we met it.
“I’m sure you would all agree with me that such an important forum would always be necessary for enhanced National Growth and Developement.
“As the head of the Bureaucracy of the Executive Arm of Government in our various spaces, it is important that we remain proactive if we need our principals to succeed in delivering promises made to the people.
“It is our modest efforts to provide the best bureaucratic interface, for effective governance, that had always informed this forum discussing contemporary issues through which delivery of government services would be more efficient.
“In all these, nothing would be of more importance than our perspectives that would be brought to bear during this discussion sessions and I would implore us to participate effectively, so that we would leave this year’s forum meeting with a re-invigorated vigour for doing things more effectively and appropriately in spite of the distractions that electioneering may bring upon us,” he stated.
and then