PRESS RELEASE

President Muhammadu Buhari Monday presided over the opening day of a Presidential Retreat for Ministers-designate and senior Government officials.

The Retreat follows screening and confirmation of the Ministers-designate by the National Assembly, and holds ahead of their swearing-in by the President on Wednesday, August 21, 2019, at the State House.

In the first technical presentation of the Retreat, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo delivered an overview of the work of the Policies, Programmes and Projects Audit Committee (PPPAC), established by Mr Buhari in March 2019 and chaired by the Vice President, with a mandate to review the performance in the first term and outline a Roadmap for the new Administration.

This was followed by presentations on National Security, Economic Development and Anti-Corruption Agenda, after which participants engaged in eleven Breakout sessions to deliberate on issues across the priority policy areas of the Administration.

These sessions covered Security; Macroeconomic Stability; Agriculture and Food Security; Energy Security in petroleum products and electricity; Transportation and Critical Infrastructure; Industrialisation and SME Development; Human Capital Development; Social Inclusion; Anti-Corruption; and Housing Financing and Consumer Credit.

Declaring the Retreat open, Buhari charged the incoming Ministers to ensure that all hands were on deck to realise the Administration’s vision of laying the grounds for the lifting of 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in ten years.

The President also asked them to take seriously their responsibility to develop and implement policies, programmes and projects, and harped on the importance of working as a team and communicating amongst themselves and with the Nigerian people.

The two-day Presidential Retreat ends on Tuesday.

Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity)