Laolu Akande

The Federal Government has said its numerous economic policies are designed to positively impact and improve the lives of average citizens.

This was disclosed on Thursday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity (Office of the Vice President), Mr. Laolu Akande while speaking on CHANNELS TV’s programme POLITICS TODAY in Abuja.

The VP’s spokesperson said, “We’ve designed the largest social welfare programmes on the continent. This is happening for the first time in the history of the country. The Social Investment Programmes (SIP)s have touched the lives of Nigerians on the lowest level of the ladder.”

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Akande stated that the positive impact of Buhari’s government’s Social Investment Programmes (SIPs), which includes the TraderMoni, MarketMoni, N-Power, among others, have been commended locally and internationally, adding that the SIPs have been endorsed by international agencies and credible non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

“Beneficiaries of the various schemes under the SIPs are persons “who didn’t know anybody” in government,” Akande noted.

“Before we came in, we had a situation where about 20 states could not pay salaries. The Buhari administration had to give all kinds of bailouts to states and local governments at a time when oil was selling for less than $20/barrel.”

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Mr. Akande said the Federal Government remains committed to diversification of the economy through job creation and agriculture. “There’s a lot going on in agriculture. A lot is going on in communication and other sectors.”

He also spoke on the Solar Installation component of the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) of the Buhari administration. He said the programme will create thousands of jobs for Nigerians, in addition to solving the problem of electricity.