President Buhari Lists Achievements In Over Two Years

Two years, four months and 12 days into his second term, President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday listed his achievements.

It was at a mid-term two-day retreat which will end Tuesday.

The President also spoke on his efforts at fighting insecurity and the plan to begin local production of arms.

The retreat gives ministers and heads of agencies the opportunity to showcase their performance for assessment to show whether they conform with the overall objectives of the administration.

Some of the achievements listed by the President are in the economy, infrastructure provision, power, petroleum industry, among others.

He said: “The 11.9km Second Niger Bridge, 120 km Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and other key projects under the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) will be completed.

“On transportation, we are growing the stock and quality of our road, rail, air and water transport infrastructure.

“The PIDF projects are also advancing remarkably. These include the 11.9km Second Niger Bridge, 120 km Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, 375 km Abuja – Kaduna – Zaria – Kano Expressway and the East West Road. Most of these projects are expected to be completed within this 2nd term of our Administration”, he said.

“Some of the notable achievements include the establishment of InfraCo Plc in 2020, as a world class infrastructure development vehicle, wholly focused on Nigeria, with combined debt and equity take-off capital of N15 trillion, to be managed by an independent infrastructure fund manager.

“The Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund was also established in 2020 with more than USD 1Billion in funding.

“In addition, we have launched the Nigeria Innovation Fund by the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA). This is aimed at addressing investment opportunities in the domestic technology sector: data networking, datacenters, software, Agri-tech, Bio-tech, and more”, he said.

Furthermore, President Buhari noted that his administration had made tremendous progress on railway projects in the country, noting that upgrading of the railway network is being extended with the recent completion of the Lagos – Ibadan line.

“The Itakpe-Ajaokuta rail line has finally been completed and commissioned after 30 years of its conception.

“Work is expected to commence very soon on the Port-Harcourt Maiduguri line and Calabar – Lagos Coastal Line to connect the Southern and Eastern States of our Country. Progress is also being made on the upgrading of our Airports, with the state-of-the-art facilities in line with world class safety standards”, he said.

On the economy, the President said the nation witnessed three consecutive quarters of growth, after negative growth rates recorded in the second and third quarters of 2020.

“The GDP grew from 0.8% in 2017 to 2.2% in 2019, but declined in the first quarter of 2020, as a result of the downward trend in global economic activities triggered by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

“As at Second Quarter 2021, GDP growth rate was at 5.01%, the highest since the inception of this Administration.

On the Power Sector, President Buhari noted that the implementation of a ‘Willing Buyer-Willing Seller’ Policy has opened up opportunities for increased delivery of electricity to underserved homes and industries.

He expressed the hope that the execution of critical projects through the Transmission Rehabilitation and Expansion Programme, will result in achieving the national goal of improved power supply by 2025.

On the Petroleum Industry Act signed into law on 16th August 2021, the President reiterated his directive to the Implementation Committee to complete all processes for the successful operationalisation of the Act within 12 months.

On efforts to empower the youth and other vulnerable groups by enhancing investments in the Social Intervention Programmes, the President said he has approved the expansion of the National Social Register (NSP) by 1 million additional households.

The NSP is the official database for the implementation of the Conditional Cash Transfer programme.

“We have established the N75 billion Nigerian Youth Investment Fund created to boost the Nigerian economy through leverage and access to finance for youths.

“The Fund should serve as a catalyst to unleash the potential of the youth and to enable them to build businesses that will stimulate economic growth and create jobs. These accomplishments are a testament to the fact that all hands are on deck in establishing a solid foundation for even greater successes in future”, he said.

The President warned all ministers and permanent secretaries to take seriously all issues relating to the implementation of their mandates towards the attainment of the laudable objectives of this Government.

The President unveiled the Presidential Priorities Performance Management System.

He explained that the Performance Management System and Dashboard, which had been in effect since January, had provided him the opportunity to track projects in real-time with live data.

The President announced that he would sit through all the sessions to listen to the cumulative assessment of this administration’s performance.

Boss Mustapha said the Administration had approved 878 contracts in the past six years, adding that most of the contracts were targeted at infrastructure, to boost economic growth and development.

The Nation