Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar says the proposed budget of the
Muhammadu Buhari administration for 2019 is built on a ‘shaky
foundation’.
“The proposed budget as presented is fundamentally
flawed,” said the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP). “It deliberately ignores and fails to address current realities
and pretends, as Mr President asserts, ‘we are on the right direction.”
He
added, “On the contrary, the 2019 budget is built on a very shaky
foundation and makes very generous, often wild and untenable assumptions
which pose significant risks to its implementation.”
The former vice president believes it will be a disservice to the nation if the “fundamental flaws” are ignored.
He
accused the Presidency of filling the budget proposal with several
inaccurate claims and making attempts to hide its failure to improve the
welfare and living standards of Nigerians.
“I see the rhetoric
of ‘inclusive, diversified and sustainable growth’ as no more than an
amplification of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government’s
renewed propaganda to hoodwink the citizens into believing that there is
‘light at the end of the tunnel,” Atiku alleged.
According to
him, the economy has yet to recover from the 2016/2017 recession as it
remains “severely stressed, extremely fragile and vulnerable to external
shocks.”
The PDP candidate said the nation’s Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) growth declined from 2.11 per cent in 2017 to 1.9 per cent
in Q1, and to 1.5 per cent in Q2 of 2018.
He, however, noted an increase of 0.3 per cent to 1.8 per cent in Q3 of 2018.
“In
reality, Mr President should expect no less. It is a fact that under
his watch and resulting from his actions or inactions, investor
confidence in the economy has waned like never before in Nigeria’s
history,” Atiku alleged.
He added, “Nigeria remains an
uncompetitive economy as demonstrated by the recent World Economic Forum
(WEF), Global Competitiveness Index which positions Nigeria as 115th of
140 Countries.
“The Report shows that Nigeria has moved three
places down, contrary to Mr President’s claim that ‘we are moving in the
right direction’. Nigeria remains one of the most difficult places to
do business as evidenced by the massive outflows of capital in recent
times.”
On the way forward, the former vice president called for an alternative to the government’s budget proposal.
The country, according to him, needs a government which understands how to run the economy in order to get it working again.
Atiku stressed that his administration has the capacity and experience Nigeria needed to get on the right path.
He
said, “For the avoidance of doubt, an Atiku Presidency, come 2019, will
present to Nigerians a people’s budget that will prioritise and focus
on the twin challenges of unemployment and poverty.”
“Nigeria’s
high rates of unemployment, poverty and inequality represent both a
significant distortion in the economic system and a lost opportunity for
critical national development and could potentially threaten social
stability.”
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