Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Wednesday, fired at the ruling All
Progressives Congress (APC), hours after President Muhammadu Buhari was
booed as he presented the 2019 Budget.
In his statement posted on
his official Facebook page, Saraki noted that Nigerians have witnessed
stunted growth in their respective businesses, lost their jobs during
the recent recession and lost innocent citizens to insurgency in parts
of the North East.
He wrote: “The last three-and-a-half years
have been eventful ones at the global level and in our domestic economy.
From dips in oil prices to major shifts in the economic landscape,
crude oil production shut-ins and security challenges, the economy and
Nigerians have been directly impacted by these events.
“Many
businesses closed down and many people lost their jobs during the recent
recession. In the same period, we lost innocent citizens to insurgency
in parts of the North East, thousands were displaced, and many lives
also lost due to clashes between farmers and herders, in addition to the
general hardship unleashed by unstable economic winds.
“The recovery
from the recession is still fragile. The fundamentals underlying the
recovery remain weak, and if unchecked, can lead to dire consequences.
The economy still runs on oil and very little progress has been made in
terms of diversification.
“As a result, the expansionary budget
policy in effect since 2016, which was aimed at raising spending and
stimulating growth in the economy, was not matched by achievable revenue
targets. The corollary is higher and rising deficit as well as a
considerable debt burden, all due to an unsustainable fiscal stance.
“The
under-performance of independent revenues is straining government’s
ability to meet its expenditure, especially investments in critical
infrastructure. This further exposes government to higher deficit levels
which have been largely financed by borrowing.
“To be clear, two
scenarios will play out if we do not deal decisively with challenges to
revenue. These would be to: i. accommodate higher debt with higher
repayment costs, which is not sustainable; ii. reduce the capital
budget, which would mean a slow-down in government investment in
critical infrastructure. This, again, does not aid growth or economy
development.
“It is for these reasons that the National Assembly
required that the 2018 Budget proposal and future ones be accompanied by
a Finance Bill, which would give credence to the financial proposals of
government.
“It is one way of establishing credibility in
projected revenues. It is imperative, therefore, that a 2019 Finance
Bill is submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and
approval.”
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