The Federal Government Monday said the statistical analysis done by the former Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, a fortnight ago which placed Anambra State as one of the poorest states in the country with a high rate of unemployment was wrong and contrary to what is on ground and facts with the Federal Office of Statistics.

The Statistician General of the Federation, Dr. Yemi Kale, who expressed displeasure in the analysis during the post flag-off press conference of the states’ Gross Domestic product (GDP) computation for the South-east zone in Awka, said it was statistically wrong to tag Anambra as one of the poorest states in the country given the entrepreneurial abilities of the people. He also said that the state remains one with the lowest unemployment rate in the country because according to him, most of its citizens either create jobs or are employers of labour.

He said the data with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that Anambra State has an unemployment rate of between 10 per cent and 11 per cent which is about that of the United States of America and less than Greece which is about 25 per cent.

“We don’t agree with those data in el-Rufai’s analysis because the indices for calculating the development of an area vary.

“Anambra State has done well in infrastructural development which can attract people to the state because of the development. This can negatively affect the development index of the state. In fact, we can say that the Governor is a victim of his achievements in this regard. So, none experts should be careful in interpreting statistical data,” he said.

Earlier at the flag-off ceremony, Minister/Deputy Chairman of National Planning Commission Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman said the purpose of the flag-off was to sensitise stakeholders on the importance of computation and publication of data on states’ GDP in Nigeria, adding that the GDP is a key barometer for measuring the level of economic activity of any nation.

In his remarks, Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, said his administration had embarked on aggressive development of the state because of long time neglect by past administrations, particularly the rural areas.

Ride on Igbo/Anambra haters