The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the N47.9 trillion 2025 federal budget estimates presented by President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly today as unpopular, which if implemented as presented will sink the nation in the abyss of insecurity. poverty and hopelessness.
This position is contained in a statement issued Wednesday by the Hon. Debo Ologunagba, national publicity secretary of the party.
The Party stated that the presented budget further confirms the insensitivity of the Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration towards the plight of Nigerians as it failed to make significant provisions and investments for critical productive sectors of agriculture and production of food, electricity, oil. and gas, Small and Medium Enterprises, which are the true engines of the national economy.
The PDP claimed that the budget speech sounded more like campaign rhetoric mixed with baseless economic statistics, false promises and concocted performance claims without clear steps and operational mechanisms to address insecurity, revive the economy, modernize industries in difficulties, shore up food production, increase the value of the naira, reduce the overall cost of living, create jobs for our youths and ensure a better standard of living for citizens.
The main opposition added: “President Tinubu dashed the hope of millions of suffering Nigerians who expected him to use the 2025 budget to make strategic arrangements that would lead to reduction in the cost of fuel, food, electricity tariffs and other essential goods and services that have a direct relationship with the well-being of people.”
The PDP said it was dismayed that the budget speech was instead an attack on the sensibilities of Nigerians when the president claimed that the 2024 budget recorded a false 85% performance without a breakdown of the component between recurrent expenditure and of capital.
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It stated: “More worrying is President Tinubu’s claim that the economy improved under his watch even in the face of acute poverty, unbearable hardship, comatose infrastructure, collapsed productive sectors, deteriorating value of the naira, an alarming inflation of 34.6%. and unemployment rates of 40%. in the last 18 months as validated by official figures.
“Equally ridiculous is Mr. President’s voodoo economics claim that the 2025 budget will reduce the current inflation rate from 34.6% to 15% and improve the value of the naira from about N1,700 to the dollar to N1,500 without no tangible index. investment in the productive sector and facing a staggering debt of 134.3 trillion naira ($91.3 billion) accumulated under the supervision of APC.”
The PDP invited Nigerians to point out that the President in his speech did not disclose the capital and recurrent profiles of the 2025 budget. This has increased public apprehension on the issue of full disclosure and transparency of government expenditure under the current administration .
“Given the crippled national productive sector, it is clear that with the expenditure of N47.9 trillion, including the provision of N15.8 trillion for debt servicing, the projected revenue of N34.8 trillion with a deficit of 13 trillion naira will be financed by unbearable taxes and levies on existing ones. impoverished citizens and companies operating in the country.
“The 2025 budget, as proposed, will reduce our domestic business environment, further cripple the productive sector, discourage domestic and foreign investors, cause further depreciation of the naira, worsen unemployment and inflation rate and push millions more Nigerians into abject poverty and insecurity will invariably increase. ”the statement said.
The PDP therefore called on the National Assembly not to approve the 2025 budget as presented, but to activate its legislative powers guaranteed by Sections 80, 81 and 82 of the 1999 Constitution to readjust the budget and make provisions that are critical and fundamental to the growth of the economy and the well-being of Nigerians.