COVID-19: Atiku wants 2020 budget abandoned, National Assembly, Presidency allocations slashed

A former Vice President Atiku Abubakar last Tuesday asked the Federal Government to abandon the 2020 budget and come up with a budget that would reflect the current national realities, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Atiku, in a statement Tuesday by his Media Office, said: “In Nigeria, it’s already clear that we must abandon the 2020 budget and come up with a more realistic budget.

“Our oil benchmark is way off the mark. And we are certainly no longer in a position to budget N100bn plus for our legislatures and almost N50bn for the Presidency (in truth, we were never in a position to do that),” Atiku added.

He said the current situation demanded that African nations unite together and seek debt forgiveness, as a direct consequence of the impact of the pandemic on the economies.

Atiku said there was need to slash allocations for National Assembly lawmakers and Presidency rather than borrow from other countries and financial bodies.

“Why is it that the Nigerian government is always quick to want to borrow at every instance? It shows a lazy mindset and an inability to take those sacrifices necessary to get the economy into shape.

“We cannot be looking to borrow huge sums at the same time our officials are taking delivery of foreign made luxury cars. We cannot be considered a serious country when we refuse to cut down on profligacy and instead seek outside help to fund our inefficiencies,” he said.

Reacting, an aide of President Muhammadu Buhari said his boss had closed his campaign office after winning the election, stressing that “the president is in governance mode. He is no longer in campaign mode.”