The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has recommended a total review of the 2024 budget, amid ongoing padding controversy at the National Assembly.
Obi said the need for a review stemmed from recent controversies surrounding allocations of resources in the budget which started after a lawmaker, Abdul Ningi, alleged that his colleagues inflated the funds to satisfy themselves.
In a statement published via his social media handle on Monday, he noted that a total review would clear air on the controversy.
“Having followed the controversies trailing the 2024 budget, and having read some of the budgetary provisions and allocations of resources, I wish to respectfully appeal for a total review of the entire budget,” he said.
According to him, Nigeria is home to 20 million out-of-school children, adding that Nigeria needs “to take our children off the streets and give them access to basic education.”
Obi noted the need to allocate adequate funding to critical sectors such as security, poverty alleviation, food security, and power supply.
“The nation’s resources should adequately be appropriated to critical areas like security, fighting poverty and solving the challenges of hunger and food insecurity, power supply, especially considering the difficult times that we are in,” he stressed.
Obi highlighted the nation’s struggles with hunger, food insecurity, and inadequate power supply.
“We have become one of the hungriest nations in the world and one of the most difficult nations in the world to live in, with food prices constantly going out of the reach of most Nigerians. Power supply is abysmally poor, and Nigerians are now mostly in total darkness, as over 60% are without power supply,” he lamented.
“We now hold the enviable position of having the highest number of out-of-school children, with about 20 million out-of-school children. We need to take our children off the streets and give them access to basic education.
“I, therefore, urge our executive and legislative arms to consider the many challenges facing our nation and re-allocate resources to these very critical areas. This is the time for complete sacrifice,” Obi wrote.
