President Muhammadu Buhari presented the 2016 Budget tagged ‘Budget of Change’ amidst high hopes and dreams. The budget which included the ambitious N5,000 welfare scheme and feeding of primary school students has been described as the budget that will set the nation on the path to economic recovery.
The Peoples Democratic Party recently alleged that Buhari’s administration will have to borrow N5 billion everyday in 2016 to fund its N6.08 trillion budget.
The figure was calculated by dividing by 365 days, the N1.84 trillion that the administration said it would borrow to fund the budget.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh insisted that the budget will mortgage the future of the country.
He said “When we analysed the budget, we discovered it is a misshapen attempt at a Keynesian economics of applying deficit spending to stimulate growth even when studies have proven that GDP growth rates decrease by over 50 per cent when debt goes from low or moderate to high. But then we know the borrowing here is to pay huge campaign debt and fund a political war chest.
“By every standard, this budget is a booby trap against the nation. When you break down the proposed N1.84 trillion borrowing, you discover that it amounts to borrowing N5 billion everyday for the 365 days in 2016. The questions are: for what specific projects are they borrowing N5 billion per day and how do they intend to pay back?”
The same budget also proposed that the presidency will spend a total of N3,630,000,000 on a fleet of BMW cars.
189.1m is voted for tyres for various vehicles, including the bulletproof and plain Mercedes Benz cars being used in the Presidency.
President Buhari will spend N1,415,706,197 on both local and international travels and transportation as against the N944,672,109 spent in 2015 by him and his predecessor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, on travels and transportation
Acquisition of presidential canteen materials and kitchen equipment has increased from N83.1m this year to N89m in 2016
The budget includes general renovation of the Guest House (N387m); complete furnishing of the Guest House (N45m); purchase of computers (27.5m) and construction and provision of recreational facilities (764m).
N30m is to be spent on the purchase of tool boxes, car jacks, and diagnostic machines for the Presidency’s bulletproof cars, the purchase of C-Caution triangles, fire-extinguishers and cables will also cost N27m.