President Bola Tinubu has commended the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development over the first commercial transaction under the National Gold Purchase Programme (NGPP).

The President said this when he received gold bars sourced from artisanal and small gold miners from Dr Dele Alake, Minister of Solid Minerals Development, on Sunday in Abuja.

According to The News Agency of Nigeria ,the gold was refined by the Solid Minerals Development Fund, an agency of the Ministry.

The programme has delivered 5 million dollars into Nigeria’s foreign reserves and injected about ₦6 billion into the rural economy.

Tinubu said that the ministry had achieved a major milestone in the administration’s drive to diversify the economy.

Alake, who presented a symbolic gold bar to Tinubu, said the NGPP would increase the country’s foreign reserves and boost the value of the Naira.