President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday received the endorsement of his decisions to end fuel subsidy payments in the country and other early policy initiatives of the administration. Mr Tinubu, while acknowledging widespread penury in Africa’s most populous nation, vowed that he is determined to eliminate the social scourge.

The president received the support when he hosted members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), led by its chairman, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara, at the State House in Abuja.

The governors expressed happiness with the president’s subsidy removal decision, all-inclusive leadership and statesmanship. They congratulated Mr Tinubu for tackling the fuel subsidy debacle, promising to work with him to ease the hardship of the decision.

Mr Tinubu had earlier called on the governors to collaborate with the government in addressing the menace of poverty in the country, saying the level of impoverishment is unacceptable.

The president advised the political leaders to downplay their differences and jointly focus on alleviating the sufferings and pains of the people.

“We can see the effects of poverty on the faces of our people. Poverty is not hereditary. It is from society. Our position is to eliminate poverty, set aside partisan politics; we are here to deliberate about Nigeria and nation-building,’’ the president explained.

Mr Tinubu stated that the country should be seen as one big family “occupying one house and sleeping in different rooms,” adding that “if we see it that way and push forward, we will get our people out of poverty,” reiterating that a “determined mind is a fertile ground for delivering on results.”

The president said that good governance would safeguard the future of democracy.

“Present in this room is our diversity in culture and politics, but we are one nation. The unity and stability of the country rest upon us. We have managed ourselves very well to have a democracy,” stated Mr Tinubu. “We have campaigned and arrived at our present destination. We must work for our people.”

Mr Tinubu assured them that he would maintain an open-door policy and was prepared to share ideas, strengthen institutions and create bottom-up frameworks that would improve the livelihood of Nigerians.

“We need synergy to fight other vices like corruption. We are trying to get smugglers out of the way. How do we work together to galvanise the economy and put resources in place?” the president noted. “We must think and perform. After removing subsidy, there must be savings accruing to the federation account.”

Mr Tinubu said the education sector must be improved as part of efforts to reduce poverty and penury. He also drew attention to the security problems in some states, urging the governors to put in all efforts to tackle insecurity.

The president said he was prepared to share ideas, strengthen institutions, and create bottom-up frameworks that would improve the livelihood of Nigerians.

Mr Tinubu said the education sector must be improved as part of efforts to reduce poverty and penury.

AbdulRazaq promised the president that the governors would support the federal government in meeting human development targets.

He thanked the president for the invitation to deliberate on the challenges of poverty and security, promising that the governors would support the federal government in meeting human development targets.

(NAN)