PRESIDENCY ADMITS MORE NIGERIANS FELL INTO POVERTY UNDER TINUBU
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The Presidency, on Wednesday, admitted that more Nigerians have fallen into poverty during President Bola Tinubu’s administration, but explained that this is because of the changes the government is making.
The Presidency also criticized a report by The Economist about Nigerians’ dissatisfaction with Tinubu’s performance, calling it weak and not meaningful.
On October 1, The Economist said President Tinubu might still win the upcoming 2027 elections even though many people are upset.
The report, titled “Nigerians dislike their president, but may re–elect him anyway,” pointed out that a worsening security situation, the tough effects of economic changes, and strong political opponents could all make it harder for Tinubu to be re–elected.
Reacting to the report on Politics Today, a Channels TV programme, Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, questioned the research methodology of the report.
Bwala said: “Let me say that The Economist’s theory, as published, is watery. It doesn’t have the substance. If you want to write an opinion piece, and especially when you want to rely on data, you want to make a claim on the data, the first thing you should do is to conduct a survey. There would be some people who don’t like him (Tinubu), but there are others who like him.
“In other words, in democracy you have to allow the two voices to speak. When you make a claim that Nigerians don’t like him (Tinubu) without also saying that there are a lot of people, for example, one million families whose children have benefited from Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, do you think they hate him? If you look at the agricultural sector in Nigeria, the kind of incentive and benefit they got, do you think they hate him? What about the incentive for the manufacturers in production?”
Asked whether more people had been thrown into poverty by the current administration, he said: “Do you know why? It is simply because we took a reform. There is no part of the world where reform comes with convenience. The population is 230 million, already at some stage of poverty. But we can’t make any progress until reform is carried out. None of the presidents that came before this president had the courage to do it because of fear.
“But the president said we can’t make any progress. So, he took that reform. Please let it be clear, even to the opposition. The reason why you have this number of poor people, and some of these doomsday analyses that people are giving, is because we undertook a reform. There is no part of the world where you start a reform like that, and there will not be discomfort. More people went down to poverty. I acknowledge it, I’m not doubting. But, there is a but to it. Since the reform started till today, we have made marked progress, which is what we have spent the last three years doing.”
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