Press Release
The attention of APC Youths Renaissance has been drawn to the mischievous slant given to the statement credited to the Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu concerning the lifting of over 133 million Nigerians out of poverty by the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.
In a statement released to newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday by the national secretary of the group, Mr. Collins Edwin, the group said, the statement was a ‘vision statement’ which the Minister is committed to achieving.
Noting that it would have ignored the mischievous interpretation given to the innocuous statement but because we believe in deepening the social contract between the APC-led Federal Government and the Nigerian people, we decided to set the records straight.
The group said, the idea of lifting 133 million Nigerians out of poverty was as a result of the Multidimensional Poverty Index Survey conducted in 2022 by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) which showed that 133 million people representing 63% persons living within Nigeria are multi dimensionally poor.
The report showed that poor people in Nigeria experience just over one-quarter of all possible deprivations.
Adding that over half of the population are multidimensionally poor and cook with dung, wood or charcoal, rather than cleaner energy.
High deprivations are also apparent nationally in sanitation, healthcare, food insecurity, and housing among others.
So, in her vision statement, the Minister said she was anxious to put smiles on the faces of Nigerians by fulfilling her mandate in the ministry.
Adding that there will be no playing games, biting corners and calling figures and data left, right and centre without Nigerians feeling the impact of the money released.
“The Humanitarian Ministry seeks to ease human suffering and maintain/re-establish circumstances that honor and protect human dignity with a mission to developing good humanitarian policies and provide effective coordination of national and international humanitarian interventions that will benefit Nigerians and remove them from poverty.”
It was in lieu of the foregoing that the Minister stated that 133 million Nigerians would be lifted out of poverty because the figure is unacceptable to Mr. President
Therefore, we urge mischief makers to spare a thought for the Minister as she has demonstrated readiness to working for Nigerians in line with the Renewed Hope agenda of Mr. President.
Signed:
Mr. Collins Edwin,
National Secretary,
APC Youths Renaissance
