President Muhammadu Buhari has asked Nigerians to focus more on agriculture as only farming can take Nigerians out of poverty.

Mr Buhari, while responding to questions from Channels TV journalists during an exclusive interview aired on Wednesday, said there was a need to allow people to get access to farms.

“I’m not sure of how correct your calculations are, but all I know is that we have to allow people to have access to the farm. We just have to go back to the land. We have to go back to the land,” Mr Buhari insisted.

While campaigning in Owerri ahead of the 2015 presidential election, the president said he would ensure that the naira was equal to the dollar in value if voted into office.

Mr Buhari faulting the exchange under the previous administration, said the N230 to one dollar rate did not speak well for the nation’s economy.

However, exonerating his regime’s poor performance during the interview, Mr Buhari urged critics to measure his success in the context of problems inherited from the previous administration.

Mr Buhari argued that his administration had achieved some successes.

However, the dollar’s value has continued to worsen under the Mr Buhari regime. Peoples Gazette on Saturday reported that the Nigerian naira was devalued from N411 to N435 to a dollar, reaching an all-time low at the official market on Friday.

In June, the World Bank warned that Nigeria’s 10 years economic gains could be reversed under the Buhari regime.

Another World Bank projection in March 2021 had predicted that no fewer than 20 million Nigerians would have plunged into poverty before the end of Mr Buhari’s tenure.