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The 2020 Appropriation bill submitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari has been described as empty, hollow and a huge disappointment that holds no hope for Nigerians.
Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the House of Representatives, Hon. Kingsley Chinda, stated this in an interview with newsmen.
Chinda said the government brought forward in the budget everything, except those things they promised Nigerians.
He noted that the government failed to consider the interest of ordinary Nigerians in the 2020 budget, but was rather concerned with the interest of a few.
The lawmaker explained that they have the duty to serve the people and that at the expiration of their tenure, they will go back to the people, hence it is their priority to develop the place where they will spend the better part of their lives (their constituency) and ensure there is road, water and electricity to better the lives of the people.
Taking a look into the specifics of the budget, he noted “the paradox of a government which proclaims prudence in public expenditure, and claims they had saved billions from the discovery of ghost workers; yet, recurrent expenditure kept increasing from about 2 trillion Naira in 2014 to about 5 trillion Naira in 2020.”
The lawmaker further explained that in 2018, revenue was budgeted at N3.9 trillion, while oil price was within $ 71.4 per barrel.
“In 2020 the oil price may likely be below the 2018 year with estimate of $57 USD per barrel, yet recurrent expenditure in 2020 is about 1 trillion higher. It is most unreasonable and tends to failure,” he said.
Reacting on the budget deficit, Chinda questioned the rational of a budget in which 20% will go into debt servicing and another 20% will be borrowed (which is another debt), stressing that where 40% of the total budget is anchored on debt and debt servicing, the budget obviously will serve the interest of anybody except the ordinary Nigerian whose future is mortgaged.
He lamented that a budget which the government is contemplating to fund the deficit from revenue that will accrue from increased VAT, based on a bill that is yet to come before the National Assembly, is a total irony of hope and anomalous.
The lawmaker stressed that the budget is bound to fail because even though the VAT revenue in 2018 was 5%, and it is projected upward to 7.5%, the 2.5% difference which is incalculable cannot service the deficit.
Chinda further noted that even the budget allocation to ministries, departments and government agencies are grossly inadequate, with minister of Works already crying out that the capital budget for the ministry is not even enough to service outstanding debts.
He specifically pointed to the “paltry budget allocation of 48 and 46 billion to education and health, respectively.”
These are key sectors that are very paramount to the economy of any nation. This budget cannot make any meaningful impact in a country like Nigeria. The 2020 budget has exposed the emptiness of the present government, he said.
On the closure of the nation’s borders against essential food commodities, the lawmaker described the action as that of an irresponsive and provocative government that acts without thinking.
He said it is unwise for a democratic government to take such a drastic action without adequate preparation and sensitisation of the people on the need for the policy.
He advised the government as a matter of urgency to commence preparation of a supplementary appropriation bill to be presented to the National Assembly to cushion the anomalies of the current Appropriation bill and take adequate alternative policy on the border closure against essential food commodities, adding that otherwise Nigeria should get ready for another economic recession come 2020 “because we are deliberately led into failure.”
