Sokoto Rejects Poverty Rating, Seeks Scrutiny Of Figure

Sokoto State Government has frowned at the recent poverty rating that ranked it as the poorest state in Nigeria.

A Permanent Secretary in the Sokoto State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Arzika Bodinga registered the State's displeasure at a one-day Workshop on the Dissemination of the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS)/ National Immunization Coverage Survey (NICS) 2021 on Tuesday in Sokoto.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) had earlier revealed that 133 million about 63 per cent of Nigerians are suffering from multidimensional poverty, with children constituting more than half of the poor people in the country.

“We are pleading for more serious scrutiny on the figure, rankings, I dare the agency to come up with data of any person found dead on account of hunger along township streets including rural areas across the state.

”Go to the Specialist Hospital, Usmanu Danfodio University Teaching Hospital all in Sokoto and monitor how our people trooping in to donate blood.

”Welfare of citizens is not compatible to the related figure and we will continue to push for more positive results.

”We facilitated enactment of food and nutrition policies, the Conditional Cash Transfers Scheme, Water and Sanitation Health (WASH) facilities, and many social protection policies, ” he said.

Bodinga called on the relevant authorities to cross check their findings, shun political infiltrations, foul play, and other short changes that might be subjunctive in the findings.

On her part, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, A’isha Dantsoho, called for immediate action to reverse the situation.

Dantsoho said authorities needed to copy from other states how they go about in handling their activities to overcome such challenges.

A Lead facilitator, Dr Danjuma Almustapha, presented documents and measures undertaken to achieve the MICS/NICS 2021.

Almustapha presented comparative results of Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara States, and led participants into discussion mostly centered on the need for officials to redouble efforts on the implementation of policies.

The presented documents would hopefully serve as a parameter to such surveys and other considerations to achieve results.