I’m taking 100 million Nigerians out of poverty – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said he planned to take 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.

The president’s comments came three weeks after Nigeria entered its second recession in five years, both during his tenure. Millions of Nigerians have been plunged into poverty due to controversial policies of the administration, especially its failure to rein in corruption, shore up private sector investments and manipulation of the naira.

“We remain committed to the plan to lift 100m Nigerians out of poverty. To this end I have approved an increase in scope of our Social Investment Programme: Doubling of @npower_ng beneficiaries to 1 million; 1 million new @geep_ng beneficiaries & 5 million new pupils for @NHGSFP,” the president said on Twitter Thursday evening.

The social investments programmes have been amongst the flagship policies of the administration. They receive about N500 billion in annual budgets and are targeted at the poor and unemployed youth.