Nigeria Poverty Index Unacceptable – NNPP

The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has described the increasing rate of poverty in the country as unacceptable, which should necessitate a resetting of government policies and programmes to address the situation.

Making this claim, the national publicity secretary of NNPP, Ladipo Johnson, said such a step was now imperative in order to maintain peace and stability in the country.

In a statement in Abuja to mark this year’s International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, NNPP noted that based on recent economic realities, the poverty index had worsened under the Tinubu administration as more people are now passing through harrowing economic conditions that show clear signals of abject poverty.

The party noted that contrary to the professed ideals of the government’s reform agenda, policies have so far proved otherwise and the future looks bleak.

NNPP criticised the lifestyles and expenditures of government officials and its institutions which, it said, were unjust and did not reflect the need for inclusion, saying such a situation cannot guarantee peace and stability as it amounted to gross inequality and insensitivity to the plight of the suffering masses.

“In light of the prevailing crunching economic conditions, therefore, it becomes imperative for the government to look inwards and take strategic and workable steps to resetting its policies and programmes to arrest the worsening poverty in the country.

“This is important in order to enable the people to believe that truly there’s hope and eschew any recourse to anti-social behaviour which could threaten public peace,” the party said.

NNPP said further, “It is also pertinent that the government and its officials show some sensitivity to the plight of the people by being modest and accountable while government’s spending is tailor-made for the needy rather than the excessive extravaganza we’ve seen in recent times”.