Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme to tackle poverty

President Tinubu in an address at the FEC meeting on 13 August 2025

1. Distinguished members of the Federal Executive Council, let me begin by expressing my sincere appreciation for your unwavering commitment, resilience, and hard work in supporting this administration’s reform agenda.

2. Together, we have implemented bold and difficult reforms that have dismantled longstanding distortions in our economy and restored policy credibility.

3. These reforms have:

Enhanced our economic resilience.

Restored macroeconomic stability.

Created a transparent and competitive business environment, and

Bolstered investor confidence.

4. As a result, our economy is now better positioned to attract both domestic and foreign private investment, which is critical to stimulating sustained growth, creating decent jobs, and lifting millions of Nigerians out of poverty.

Renewed Hope Agenda: A $1 Trillion Economy by 2030

5. Our Renewed Hope Agenda remains focused on achieving a $1 trillion economy by the year 2030.

6. To realise this vision, we must now accelerate our efforts to achieve a minimum growth rate of 7.0 per cent by 2027.

7. This is not just an economic target; it is a moral imperative. Stimulating higher growth is the only sustainable path to solving the poverty challenge in Nigeria.

8. The recent IMF Article IV Report published in July 2025 also affirms this trajectory and underscores the importance of investment-led growth.

1 The Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme

9. In line with our commitment to inclusive development, I recently launched the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme-a ward-based initiative covering all 8,809 wards across the 774 local government areas in Nigeria.

10. This programme is close to my heart. It is designed to empower active grassroots economic players, using a micro-level approach to tackle poverty. We aim to bring sub-national governments and private sector partners on board to ensure efficient and impactful implementation.

Collaboration with States and Local Governments

11. Last week, I addressed the National Economic Council and urged our Governors to accelerate growth by:

Prioritising productivity-enhancing investments,

Strengthening food security, and

Deepening collaboration with local governments.

12. These efforts are essential to fully addressing the poverty challenge and ensuring that no Nigerian is left behind.

Savings and Investment: Catalysts for Growth

13. Let me emphasise the critical role of savings in catalysing investment and growth. Currently, public investment as a share of GDP stands at a low 5.0 per cent, largely due to insufficient public savings.

14. We must urgently review and optimise our savings. This includes:

Enhancing spending efficiency, and

Reviewing deductions from the Federation Account, such as the cost of collection by revenue agencies such as FIRS, Customs, NUPRIC and NIMASA etc.

15. There is also the need to reassess the 30 per cent management fee and the 30 per cent frontier exploration deduction by NNPC based on the Petroleum Industry Act

16. We must optimise every available Naira to sustain our momentum and finance our growth trajectory-especially in a time of global liquidity constraints.

Directive to the Economic Management Team

17. Accordingly, I am directing the Economic Management Team, chaired by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, to:

Conduct a comprehensive review of all deductions and revenue retention practices, and

Present actionable recommendations to this Council for an optimal way forward.

Closing

18. Distinguished members of this accomplished Federal Executive Council, the task ahead is great, but so is our resolve.

19. Let us continue to work together with unity of purpose, guided by the Renewed Hope Agenda, to build a prosperous, inclusive, and resilient Nigeria.

20. Thank you.