A senator representing Lagos Central, Oluremi Tinubu, says the 2016 national budgetary allocation of N4 billion to the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development is inadequate as it would not cater for the welfare of women who supported the ruling party.
Mrs. Tinubu, the wife of a leader of the ruling APC, made this known during the debate on the general principles of the 2016 budget proposal at a senate plenary in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to her, the allocation will not be adequate to meet the yearnings and aspirations of the Nigerian women, who are looking up to the APC-led government for succour in line with its 2015 campaign promises.
“This budget is less than N4 billion and the capital is almost N3 billion.
“When you look at it what is left to do any work. I am laying this case on behalf of the Nigerian women that this is not going to go well. It is as if we have been used during the campaign.
“We say this is the government of change, that our change mantra is supposed to change things across board, but what they allotted to the Nigerian women is not encouraging.
“When we talk about change that doesn’t mean we are going to just be supporting what is not working.
“So the women are not just going to be used to campaign and several promises are made to them. This budget is not telling anything and not making any promises.
The senator argued that the N1 billion earmarked for recurrent expenditure would hardly cater for the empowerment programmes under the ministry.
“When we look at the functions of this ministry, we see that the ministry is divided into two, human resources and capacity building, economic services and women cooperatives.
“But when we look at the first division, which is the human resources and capacity building, they are supposed to promote education, development of women in the civil, political, sociocultural, and economic sectors.
“Also to promote motherhood women’s health especially maternal mortality; and not only that, they are supposed to fund six zonal political empowerment offices.
“Subventions and grants to NGOs, Nigerian women trust fund, management of shelter for female victims of violence, 100 women lobby groups, welfare support for indigent women,” she said.
She called on the Senate Committee on Appropriation to increase the allocation considerably to enable the ministry to meet its obligations to Nigerian women.