APC Plateau State Defends Ministerial Nominee Dr. Nentawe Yilwatda's Stance on Poverty Reduction

 

 

The Plateau State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has issued a press statement to clarify remarks made by Dr. Nentawe Yilwatda, the Minister-designate for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, during his recent Senate screening. 

In the statement by the acting Publicity Secretary, Shittu Bamaiyi, the party asserts that his statements have been "misconstrued" by critics, particularly a group called the Niger Delta Progressive Women Worldwide, which accused Dr. Nentawe of regional bias.

According to the APC, Dr. Nentawe’s comments were not his personal opinions but rather based on statistical data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), indicating that poverty levels are higher in Northern Nigeria than in the South. 

During his Senate appearance, Dr. Nentawe cited that approximately 65% of the nation’s poverty is concentrated in the North, while 35% is from the South, referencing this data to advocate for a targeted, data-driven approach to poverty reduction.

The APC's statement underscores that Dr. Nentawe did not imply favoring any region over another but instead emphasized the importance of detailed data collection to better identify impoverished individuals nationwide. Dr. Nentawe reportedly proposed a system where poverty statistics are linked to names and digital identities, enabling a localized approach to aid distribution down to local government areas, wards, and specific census enumeration zones.

The APC also noted that Senator Ned Nwoko from the Niger Delta commended Dr. Nentawe’s blueprint for poverty reduction on national television, citing this as evidence that the nominee’s intentions are inclusive and unbiased.

The party has therefore urged the public to disregard calls from the Niger Delta Progressive Women Worldwide to disqualify Dr. Nentawe from his ministerial role, describing the allegations as “baseless” and affirming the nominee's commitment to poverty alleviation across Nigeria without regional discrimination.