FG expended $5bn fighting poverty in five years — Minister

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Farouq, has said the Federal Government expended over $5bn since 2016 to fight poverty in the country.

The minister said the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), since 2016 has backed his pledge to pull out 100 million Nigerians out of poverty by committing $1bn through the National Social Investment Programme to reduce poverty and inequality.

She also described as factual the data referenced in the President’s Democracy Day address, which said 7.5million people had been pulled out of poverty.

The National Coordinator of NSIP, Dr Umar Bindir, who represented the minister, stated this on Saturday in Yola, during the presentation of letters of engagement and electronic tablets to 248 monitors of the NSIP programme in Adamawa..

She said, “I am happy to report to you that every year since 2016, when NSIP was flagged off, Mr President has approved that $1bn be invested into that sector every year (which aggregated is over $5bn).”

Copyright PUNCH.