CENTREP in a statement by the Executive Director, Mr. Oghenjabor Ikimi, said, “We call on the Federal Government to stop playing politics with the welfare and security of Nigerians by making same its primary and sole responsibility.”
“Our attention has been drawn to the recent statement credited to President Muhammadu Buhari to the effect that five million Nigerians were lifted out of poverty during the first three years of his administration. We make bold to say that the five million Nigerians referred to were actually lifted from poverty to their early graves.
“We are not oblivious of the fact that during the first three years of President Muhammadu Buhari, many Nigerians lost their lives and properties to hoodlums across the country. Armed Fulani herdsmen burnt down farmlands and mass deaths recorded across the country when villages were invaded, burnt and plundered by rampaging herders.
“Women were rendered widows, children rendered fatherless and our highways littered with gunmen. The suicide rate amongst Nigerians has increased and unemployment has skyrocketed. Over five million poverty- stricken Nigerians no doubt were sent to their early graves during this period under reference,” CENTREP added.
It noted, “A recent World Bank report succinctly puts the population of Nigerians living in abject and pandemic poverty as over 90 million, yet Section 14(2) (b) of the Nigerian Constitution says the primary responsibility of the Nigerian Government is to ensure the welfare and security of Nigerians.”