Flingpord

  The Federal Government on Wednesday said state governors were partly responsible for the rising rate of poverty in the country. It blamed the state chief executives for favouring the construction of infrastructure, such as bridges and airports, in cities, rather than improving the lives of the poor. The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba, stated these while briefing State House correspondents shortly after this week’s Federal Executive Council meeting, chaired by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. Agba noted that 72 per cent of the nation’s poor resided in rural communities. He said, “The governors are basically functioning in their state capitals. And the democracy that we preach is about delivering the greatest goods to the greatest number of people. And our demographics show that the greatest number of our people live in rural areas, but the governors are not working in rural areas. “Right now, 70%...