November 17, 2017

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration recorded laudable achievements, in spite of terrible economic downturn and an empty purse foisted on it.

The minister said this at the inauguration of a book chronicling the administration’s achievements in Abuja.

The minister said through commitment to discipline, determination and transparency, the administration recorded landmark achievements that were putting our country on the path of sustainable growth.

“Taking a broad view, this administration is delivering in the broad areas that form the plank of its policies: security, fight against corruption and the economy.

“They include the massive provision of infrastructure, Ease of Doing Business and agriculture, just to mention a few,’’ he said.

Mohammed said the administration had successfully tackled the menace of Boko Haram, which had crippled the North-east and even put the residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on tenterhooks.

He reeled out the administration’s achievements in several sectors, including power where he said generation had increased.

Specifically, he said power generation increased from 2,690MW in May 2015 to 6,619MW, transmission capacity from 5,000MW to 6,700MW, and distribution capacity from 4,000MW to 4,600MW as at September 2017.

On Infrastructure, the Minister said the administration had increased many times over, the budget allocated to roads, power and housing.

He disclosed that the government constructed and rehabilitated a total of 766 kilometres of roads across the country in 2017.

On the economy, Mohammed said headline inflation had fallen for nine consecutive months this year and that foreign reserves were up to 34 billion dollars, from 24 billion dollars in 2016.

“Nigeria is out of recession and the economy is on the growth trajectory again, after the economy contracted for five consecutive quarters.

“In spite the downturn in oil prices, this administration was able to invest an unprecedented sum of over N1.2 trillion in capital projects through the 2016 Budget, the highest ever in the history of this country.

“Our Sovereign Wealth Fund, which was established in 2011 with one billion dollars, did not receive additional investment for four years when oil prices were as high as 120 dollars per barrel.

“This administration was able to invest an additional 500 million dollars into the Fund,’’ he said.

Listing other achievements in the economic sector, he said stability had been restored to the foreign exchange market.

The minister added the recent 24-place leap by Nigeria in the World Ease of Doing Business Index as well as the rehabilitation of 15 moribund Fertilizer Blending Plants across Nigeria, which had created 50,000 direct jobs and 70,000 indirect

He said the administration’s war against corruption was moving apace.

He also reeled out figures to support his claim that the
administration’s Social Investment Programme ”is a roaring success’’.