By SINL Reporter
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the slashing of the 2020 budgetary allocations for basic health care from N44.4 billion to N25.5b, and the Universal Basic Education (UBE) budget from N111.7 billion to N51.1 billion, by President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The party described it as the height of insensitivity to the plights of Nigerians.
The party charged President Buhari to immediately recall the budget, rework the figures to reflect a 100% increase in the initial figures as a step forward towards meeting the needs of the citizens at these sub sectors.
PDP, in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan insisted that in slashing the budget for the primary health need of the people to N25.5 billion (a 42% cut) and UBE budget to N51.1 billion (a 54% cut), in a country of over 200 million people, who are already economically overburden, the APC and its administration have reportedly exposed that they have never had the welfare of Nigerians at heart.
According to the PDP, no government, which genuinely means well for its citizens, will vote a paltry N25.5 billion for basic health care for 200 million people in 774 local governments, particularly at this time our nation is facing huge health challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, while allocating a bigger sum of N27.7 billion for renovation of the National Assembly complex, which is not even in a distress state.
The statement reads in part: “While the PDP has nothing against any effort to improve on the working condition of our federal legislature, placing the renovation of the National Assembly complex above health care at this critical time is a scandalous misplacement of national priority by President Buhari and APC Presiding officers.
“Moreover, our party has been made aware that this development does not reflect the views of majority of the federal lawmakers.
“A critical analysis of the allocations indicates that with the N25.5 billion voted for primary health care in a country of over 200 million citizens, President Buhari and the APC plan to spend only about N125 per Nigerian at the primary health care level, within the 2020 fiscal year”.
