President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said the administration’s policy to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty did not come by accident.

He said it was a deliberate action that will be pursued with determination.

The Nigerian leader spoke at a meeting with the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) at the State House.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was in attendance.

Buhari agreed with the council that the country required a poverty reduction strategy for a rapid and sustainable economic development.

The President wondered what became of the nation in the past, “with all the resources available to it”.

PEAC Chairman, Doyin Salami, led the presentation. He is expected to brief Ministers at the FEC meeting on Wednesday.

Salami welcomed the country’s exit from recession but cautioned that the strength of the economic growth must be driven in a way that it will overtake population growth.

The poverty reduction strategy advised federal and state governments to increase agricultural productivity, address poverty, ensure macro-economic stability, and use economic endowments to boost industrialisation.

The PEAC suggestion for the establishment of a “National Council on Poverty Reduction,” made up of key stakeholders, was accepted by the President.