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Twitter Users React To N27bn For National Assembly Renovation, Budget Cut Of Health, Education Sector

By Edna Wande
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National Assembly complex
National Assembly complex

Federal Government has reduced the N37bn budget for the renovation of the National Assembly complex to N27.7bn.

In the 2020 revised budget proposal, the FG has cut N9.3bn from the initial budget for the renovation of the National Assembly complex, The Punch reports.

The initial cost of N37bn, which is to be executed by the Federal Capital Territory Administration, attracted criticisms from many Nigerians in 2019.

However, following the drop in the price of crude oil and a fall in the projected government revenue, the Federal Government has decided to reduce the budget for the renovation.

President Buhari had on Thursday presented the 2020 Appropriation Act (amendment) Bill to the National Assembly, which both the Senate and the House passed for second reading same day.

Buhari explained that the amendment became necessary in view of the sharp decline in crude oil prices and the cut in Nigeria’s crude oil production quota occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, while the National Assembly complex renovation budget was reduced to N27.7bn (a reduction of 25.1 per cent), the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) which is meant to cater for all the primary healthcare centres across the 774 local government areas in the country, was reportedly reduced from N44.4bn to N25.5bn, a decrease of more than 42.5 per cent. 

Also affected by the proposed amended budget is the Universal Basic Education (UBE) fund, which was also significantly reduced from N111.7bn to N51.1bn (more than 54.2 per cent).

The UBE is a reform programme aimed at providing greater access to quality basic education throughout Nigeria.

It seeks to ensure an uninterrupted access to nine years formal education by providing free, and compulsory basic education for every child of school-going age.

Similarly, the budget for the National Assembly which was N128bn was cut by only 10 per cent, bringing its revised total budget to N115.2bn.

The same was applied to the National Judicial Council as its N110bn original budget was reduced by just 10 per cent, bringing it down to N99bn.

The disparity in the budget amendment has since sparked reaction from many Nigerians on Twitter, wondering why budget for important sectors like health and education were significantly reduced.

See some reactions below;

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