•Kwankwaso and Buhari
A member of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) representing Dala Federal Constituency, Kano State, Sani Madaki, today, aimed a veiled shot at the government of Muhammadu Buhari, describing it as nothing to write home about.
Hon. Madaki came hard on the immediate past administration at the resumed debate on the general principles of the 2024 budget, reports Daily Independent.
Yielding the floor to make his contribution, Rabiu Kwankwaso’s ally said, “There is hunger and insecurity everywhere. The budget should have been called budget of hope, not renewed hope. So, what are you renewing? In the past eight years, there was nothing to be hopeful about,”
The House of Representatives today passed the N27.5trn 2024 budget for Second Reading.
Leading the debate on Friday, Kalifat Ogbara (APC, Lagos State) said when implemented, the budget will impact the lives of Nigerians in many critical sectors of the economy.
Members took turns to make their contributions with many heaping praises on President Tinubu for laying emphasis on capital projects unlike in the past.
Hon. Obinna Ginger, a member of the Labour Party representing Isiala Ngwa North/ South Federal Constituency, Abia State said, “From what was presented by Mr President, the education sector is not fully represented. Let us look at upgrading the allocation to education because we still have less than 26 per cent of the UNESCO benchmark.”
He drew the attention of his colleagues to the need to carry every geo-political zone along in the implementation of the 2024 budget.
He said, “The 1999 Constitution as amended provides for the federal character principle but I must say here that the South-East cannot continue to shout marginalisation and nobody is listening. There is no motorable federal road in the South-East. Let us allocate more resources to the South-East so that our people can have a sense of belonging,” he pleaded.
Another lawmaker and member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Frederick Agbedi called for special attention to rural communities, saying the removal of petroleum subsidies has made life tougher for the people than before.
“Since the removal of fuel subsidy, life has become extremely difficult for our people. No effort is being made to address the effect of subsidy removal on our people who are spending much to transport their goods and services. We would like to appeal that in considering this bill, effort is made to address this so that the riverine areas can be part of this budget,” he said.
Lauding the sectoral allocation to security, a PDP lawmaker from Kaduna State, Bashir Yusuf drew the attention of the Federal Government to the place of private sector involvement in the implementation of the budget. He said, “Private sector involvement in the economy of any nation is only possible in a secure environment. As we look at diversifying our economy, the solid minerals sector needs to be given top priority. This is one way we can grow our non-oil revenue.”
He however expressed displeasure at what he called the below-expected allocation to agriculture in the proposed budget, saying it fell below the Maputo Declaration.
“We are still short of the Maputo Declaration which requires 10 per cent of the national budget to be spent on agriculture. To actualise this, we need the input of development partners,” he added.
Also speaking, a member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance representing Aguata Federal Constituency, Anambra State, Ifeanyi Okafor called on the lawmakers to double their oversight function particularly as it concerns defence and security.
According to him, “It is not enough to allocate huge resources to security agencies and there is nothing to show for it,” stressing that “Some of the people who are into kidnapping do so because of unemployment.”
In the words of Cyril Godwin, (PDP, Rivers State), 45 per cent of the revenue projection is expected to come from the oil sector, noting however that despite this reality, there has been no investment in the sector in the past 10 years.
“In the past 10 years, the multi-national oil companies refused to carry out any critical investment in oil production. We need oil revenue to diversify the economy into other sectors. We need safer schools, particularly in the North,” he said.
On his part, the lawmaker representing Nkwerre/Isu/ Nwangele/Njaba, Ugbonna Ozurigbo said while effort is being made to pass the budget in record time, he urged the Federal Government to increase revenue allocation to the Presidential Amnesty Programme given its role in ensuring peace and security around oil installations and facilities.
Following exhaustive debate today, Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas adjourned the plenary to December 12 to enable the lawmakers to conclude the process preparatory to its passage.
