President Muhammadu Buhari said on Tuesday in Abuja that the decision of his administration to complete inherited projects arose from its commitment to serve Nigerians.
Buhari spoke at the National Policy Development Summit, organised by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Policy and Strategy.
The president, whose speech was read by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr Muhammed Bello, said the decision was a total departure from what was obtainable in the past.
“As a people-oriented government, our deepest concern is to work for you and the nation, that is why, rather than initiate new projects, we decided in the nation’s interest to continue and complete projects that are strategic which we retained.
“This decision is a total drift from what was obtainable with the past governments.
“It may interest you to note that we had to maximize the little resources left, improve our revenue base and diversify the economy to insulate Nigeria from the inherent volatility of oil prices.
“This led us to develop the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan(ERGP)which lays out the government’s strategy for achieving its vision of sustained and inclusive growth,’’ he said.
Buhari said that the plan aimed at economic recovery in the short-term and structural reforms at diversifying the economy to set it on a path toward sustained and inclusive growth in the medium and long term.
He said that the ERGP specifically brought about a better anti-corruption drive ,good governance ,economic diversification ,ease of doing business ,provision of critical infrastructure needed to support businesses .
Mr Ibrahim Hassan, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Policy Development and Analysis, said the maiden summit, was aimed at reviewing the Change Agenda.
Hassan said that this was with a view to highlighting successes recorded, challenges and lessons learnt in the past four years of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s led administration.
He said that the new mantra of Change gave hope to many Nigerians and united a nation that has traditionally been divided on a North and South basis and religious beliefs.
Retired Brig.-Gen. Muhammed Marwa, Chairman, Central Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Women and Youth, said the summit was a reminder of the significance of having a proper honest review of what has been done and can been done better.
Marwa said that `Next Level’ was a product of deeper understanding that came with deeper reflection and humility in learning towards doing better on a continuous basis.’’
He said that although corruption was fighting back including the use of fake news, misinformation and blatant unverifiable lies, the believers of Buhari remained undeterred in their conviction.
He said that Next Level did not only mean making governance better for the people, but it involved dealing with threats and reducing weaknesses through anti-corruption.
“This makes anti-corruption reform equivalent to Next Level,’’ he said
