The Presidency on Saturday in Abuja faulted the African Development Bank (AfDB)’s report on Nigeria’s poverty reduction efforts.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, said the report was “devoid of truth and political’’.
Abati said that it was inconceivable that AfDB’s report came barely a month after the UN gave an award to Nigeria for its efforts at reducing poverty significantly in the country.
He recalled that the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), a UN body, at its 38th Session in Rome in late June gave an award to Nigeria as one of the nations that made significant progress in reducing hunger.
The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, represented President Goodluck Jonathan in receiving the award on behalf of the government, he stated.
Adesina presented the award to the president during a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
Abati said that such a negative report from the AfDB some weeks after the FAO award was “suspicious and laced with falsehood and political’’.
