A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun Mr Olatunbosun Oyintiloye has appealed to President Bola Tunubu, to keep an eagle eye on how the funds allocated to different poverty alleviation programmes in the country is being spent.
Oyintiloye, while speaking with newsmen on Sunday in Osogbo, said that the passion of the president to alleviate poverty among the masses must not be allowed to be truncated by selfish individuals.
The APC chieftain said that all necessary strategy must be put in
place to ensure that different poverty intervention programmes by the president have positive impacts on the lives of the less privileged Nigerians
“We have a president that is monitoring everything being done in his government and that why we have absolute trust him.
” We must encourage and support the president to keep eagle eye on these interventions programmes to prevent diversion.
” Since the money is meant to alleviate poverty among the masses, every necessary strategy must be in place to ensure that allocated money have positive impacts on the lives of the less privileged Nigerians”, he said
Oyintiloye, a member of the defunct APC Presidential Campaign Council, however, commended the president on the N150 billion allocated for poverty alleviation programmes in year 2024.
He said said that the allocated amount would go a long way in impacting positively lives of several Nigerians.
The APC chieftain said that the money which was to be spent under the National Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy (NPRGS) would stabilise and improve the livelihood of the vulnerable masses.
He also noted that the money allocated under the four pillars of macro-economic stability, industrialisation, structural policies/institutional reforms and redistributive policies/programmes of government under the NPRGS, was a development.
It will be recalled that the NPRGS was approved by the Federal Executive Council in 2021 during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari to address poverty, particularly in rural areas.
The programme is to run for 10 years (2021-2031), with an estimated implementation cost of $1.6tn at an annual average of about $161bn.
Oyintiloye, a former lawmaker, said that the allocated fund would assist in fighting poverty, create economic growth and employment.
The APC Chieftain, who said millions of Nigerians were living in poverty, stressed that various interventions by the president to alleviate poverty must be commended.
He also commended the president for allocating N10.35 billion to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation to fight poverty in 2024 appropriation law.
“There is no doubt that the economy is not friendly and there is poverty in the land.
“But the tirelessly effort of President Tinubu through various intervention programmes to minimise poverty is commendable.
“The president acknowledged the pains the people are passing through and that is why he and his team are working round the clock to make life more bearable for Nigerians.
“The assurance given by the President in his new message that the economic hardships occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy will soon be over is an indication that government is not sleeping.
“Also, the president remarks that that every one of his steps and decisions taken since his assumption of office on May 29 is in the interest of the country is a major hope that things will soon be good for Nigerians.
“We all just need to keep praying for the country and continue to play our part to support him to achieve his good plans for the upliftment of the country”, he said.