President Muhammadu Buhari said the present administration is committed to consolidating on its successes of the last four years in order to make life better for all citizens irrespective of their geo-political backgrounds.
Speaking at the opening session of a two-day Presidential Policy Retreat at the State House in Abuja on Wednesday, the president said the federal government needs policies that would accelerate growth and economic development across the country.
He said government has made made progress in the agricultural sector, especially in food production and processing through its Food Security and Anchors Borrowers Programmes.
He said these programmes provide concessionary credit facilities to farmers in crop production as well as large-scale investors in food processing and manufacturing.
“To consolidate on these and other successes, we will continue to provide incentives that will facilitate investments and create jobs in key import substitution programmes.
“We are committed to consolidating the successes of the first term and creating an avenue such that the Nation’s investments and resources are geared towards sustainable development. We will implement structures that will accelerate speedy execution of these initiatives,’’ he said.
The president said the present administration would continue to provide incentives for sustainable economic growth and job creation.
He said the country had witnessed eight quarters of consistent though marginal growth of the economy over the past two and half years.
“In line with the ‘Next Level’ strategy of our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) which seeks to consolidate on our achievements over the past four years.
“This policy dialogue session has been conceived to advise the government over the next four years to deliver on our promises in a manner that reflects true changes to the livelihood of our people.
“You are also to discuss and propose for federal government’s approval, key strategies and high impact initiatives to stimulate economic growth and development.
“These concerted efforts require the convergence of various stakeholders, cutting across the private sector, development partners and industry experts, to dialogue and forge a way forward,’’ he said.
In his remarks, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Mr Adams Oshiomhole, said poverty had continued to ravage Nigerians despite efforts by the current administration to address the challenge.
He called on leaders at the three tiers of government not to use pension funds in the custody of National Pension commission (PENCOM) as stop gap measures to fund budget deficits and infrastructure development.
“We know what the challenges are, but now, we need practical solutions to deal with the issue but the problem is how. Why is it that in Nigeria, if you have to buy a car, you must have come up with all the money needed. “We have all travelled all around the world, 10 per cent of your salary is all you need to buy a car. We must stop PENCOM money from being borrowed and used for the purpose other than addressing social needs of Nigerian workers. Poor people’s money must be used to address the challenges of the poor,’’ he said.
