Buhari Tasks Ministers On Project Delivery

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has Urged ministers and permanent secretaries to redouble their efforts and work in synergy toward total delivery of the set target of the current administration to improve the livelihood of all Nigerians.

Buhari gave the directive on Tuesday at the end of the two-day Mid-term Ministerial performance review retreat organized to assess progress made towards the achievement of the nine key priorities of the Administration.

The President instructed the ministers to ‘‘ramp up implementation’’ of their mandates along the Nine Priority Areas of this Administration.

He stressed the need for synergy between the fiscal and monetary authorities in the country to keep the economy on the trajectory of growth.

He noted that intensive discussions at the retreat provided an opportunity to reflect on what this administration has done and areas it needs to improve and refocus attention.

He said, ‘‘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.

‘‘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 stated.

To achieve this, President Buhari, therefore, directed the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) to immediately begin the process of convening quarterly coordination meetings for each priority area based on the collaborative results framework.

He explained that the aim of the meetings would be to ascertain status of implementation across the nine priority areas, identify bottlenecks, and proffer immediate solutions, and directed all ministers to always attend.

‘‘All Ministers and Permanent Secretaries are to promote a robust performance culture across the Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) by setting up intra-ministerial delivery task teams,” he said.

The President further instructed the Office of the SGF to immediately commence engagement with stakeholders to agree and push forward a framework for the institutionalization of the Central Delivery Coordinating Unit.

Similarly, the President directed the Head of Service to, as a matter of urgency, invest in capacity strengthening of the Planning, Research and Statistics departments in all MDAs.

This he said, should be done in collaboration with the Central Delivery Coordinating Unit.

The President also pledged that his administration priority attention to expanding access to quality education, affordable healthcare and productivity of Nigerians.

He also promised to sustain Social Investment Programmes in the remaining years of his administration.

He added that the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development has been directed to come up with a legislative framework for social protection that also guarantees its funding stream.

President also spoke on the administration’s determination to build systems to fight corruption and improve governance.