A former Minister of State for Finance, Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba, has said the Federal Government should not be blamed for the 133 million Nigerians currently living in multidimensional poverty, insisting that the responsibility lies with state and local governments.
Agba made the assertion in a video presentation shared on X on Wednesday by Presidential aide, Bayo Onanuga. He argued that sub-national governments are constitutionally responsible for key indicators used in measuring multidimensional poverty.
The former minister, who supervised the 2022 National Multidimensional Poverty Index survey, explained that while monetary poverty measures income levels, multidimensional poverty reflects a lack of access to basic social services and infrastructure.
“The truth, from what the survey showed, is that the Federal Government has nothing to do with multidimensional poverty,” Agba said.
He dismissed claims that the administrations of former President Muhammadu Buhari or President Bola Tinubu were responsible for the rising poverty figures, stressing that sectors such as basic education, primary healthcare, potable water and sanitation fall under the purview of state and local authorities.
“Who in our Constitution is responsible for these things? Basic education? The sub-national government. Who’s responsible for basic health? Sub-national government. Who’s responsible for providing potable drinking water? Sub-national government. Who’s responsible for sanitation? Sub-national government. So why are we blaming the federal government of Nigeria?” he asked.
Agba criticised state governors for concentrating development efforts in urban centres at the expense of rural communities, where most Nigerians reside. He noted that individuals could still be considered poor if they lacked access to essential services, regardless of personal wealth.
“If you have all the money in the world and you go to your community, and you fall ill at night and there is no one available, you are multidimensionally poor, even if you have ten million dollars in your pocket,” he said.
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Defending the current administration’s economic reforms, Agba described the removal of fuel subsidy as a necessary but painful step towards long-term stability. He likened the policy to a medical procedure required to save a critically ill patient.
“There must be pain, but you endure the pain for a while, and thereafter things begin to manifest. We all want to have an omelette, but no one wants to break eggs,” he said.
Agba also called on government officials to ensure sustained funding for the Open Government Partnership (OGP), urging his successor and the Minister of Youth to make budgetary provisions for the initiative in order to strengthen transparency and accountability.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics’ 2022 report on multidimensional poverty, 63 per cent of Nigerians, estimated at 133 million people, were classified as multidimensionally poor. The index measures deprivation across 15 indicators grouped under health, education, living standards, work, and exposure to economic and security shocks.