The 2021 budget presentation by President Muhammadu Buhari as been condemned by many Nigerians after over N128 billion was earmarked for the National Assembly.
Buhari on Thursday presented a record 13 trillion-naira budget for 2021 to members of the National Assembly.
The spending plan is about 21% rise from the revised 2020 spending plan of 10.8 trillion naira. The budget assumes crude production of 1.86 million barrels a day and an oil price of $40 per barrel with the exchange rate at N379 to $1, Buhari said.
Nigeria’s National Assembly – House of Representatives and the Senate got N128 billion in the 2021 budget in the plan, while N380.21b was proposed for the health ministry. N3.8 trillion has been allocated to all ministries departments and agencies for the execution of capital projects.
Buhari said revenue generation to fund annual budgets has been the greatest challenge being faced by his administration.
The president said supervising ministers had been ordered to ensure strict monitoring of revenue-generating agencies under their supervision.
While Buhari emphasized that “revenue generation remains our biggest challenge” many Nigerians wondered why N128 billion was budgeted to run the National Assembly.
Socio-Economic Rights And Accountability Project (SERAP) described the National Assembly budget as a ‘travesty’.
SERAP urged Senate president Ahmad Lawan and House of Representatives speaker Femi Gbajabiamila “to urgently push to cut the N128bn budget for the National Assembly in 2021.”
“The National Assembly ought to prioritise spending for education and healthcare. We’ll see in court if our lawmakers approve this money for themselves,” SERAP tweeted.
Nigerians on Twitter have also criticised the budget for the National Assembly.