TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari has commended ministers for making “significant progress” in the delivery of their mandates.

Buhari gave the commendation on Tuesday, at the midterm ministerial performance review retreat in Abuja.

The president, however, asked ministers to ‘‘ramp up implementation’’ of their mandates along the nine priority areas of the administration.

According to a statement by Femi Adesina, presidential spokesperson, Buhari also emphasised the need for synergy between the fiscal and monetary authorities in the country in order to keep the economy on the trajectory of growth.

‘‘The retreat provided an opportunity for us to undertake an objective assessment of our stewardship in line with the contract we signed with the Nigerian people to deliver on our electoral promises,” Buhari was quoted as saying.

‘‘From the assessment report and discussions at this retreat, I am glad to note that progress has been made towards the achievement of our objectives.

‘‘The independent performance assessment report presented on day one of the retreat, indicates that significant progress has been achieved in the delivery of the ministerial mandates.

‘‘Distinguished participants, the discussions at the retreat have prompted the need for us to ramp up implementation on the deliverables.

‘‘We must close the gaps in our implementation efforts to ensure that we attain set targets by 2023.”

Buhari directed Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation, to immediately begin the process of convening quarterly coordination meetings for each priority area.

The president also promised that issues on expanding access to quality education, affordable healthcare and productivity of Nigerians will be given priority attention.

‘‘We will sustain all ongoing efforts in rebuilding our health system through targeted investment in the health sector, especially our vaccination drive to halt the spread of the coronavirus pandemic,” he said.

‘‘This administration remains committed to providing the education and training required for employment and entrepreneurship, particularly using technology to impact the relevant skills on our youths.

‘‘Our social investment programmes will be sustained in the coming years. We will continue to reach out to the poorest and most vulnerable households through the National Cash Transfer Programme and other initiatives of the government.”

According to the statement, the nine priority areas set out by the administration include: building a thriving and sustainable economy; enhancing social inclusion and poverty reduction; enlarging agricultural output for food security and export, and attaining energy sufficiency in power and petroleum products.

Others are expanding transport and other infrastructural development; business growth, entrepreneurship and industrialisation; access to quality education; affordable healthcare, and productivity of Nigerians.