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2018 BUDGET: Nat’l Assembly raises Presidency budget by N7.9bn, cuts Education by N63bn

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The National Assembly has raised the budget allocation to the Presidency by N7.9 billion, a breakdown of the 2018 Budget released on Friday and obtained by Ripples Nigeria has revealed.

President Muhammadu Buhari, while addressing Nigerians after signing the 2018 Budget into law on Wednesday, had accused the National Assembly of removing several critical projects, stressing that the lawmakers introduced 6,403 fresh projects worth N578 billion “without any discussion with the Executive.”

He pointed that the assembly raised its own budget from N125 billion proposed by the Executive to N139.5 billion, this has however raised concerns at different quarters as the President did not mention whether or not the budget provision to the Presidency was reviewed.

According to the budget breakdown, a total sum of N59.34 billion was budgeted to the Presidency of which N31.56 billion was for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, while a sum of N27.78 billion was budgeted for capital expenditure.

In November, President Buhari presented a budget estimates with total allocation of N51.45 billion of which N29.48 was planned to be spent on recurrent expenditure, while N21.97 was budgeted for capital expenditure.

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The budget for Ministry of Defence was increased by N8.97 billion. Ministry of Foreign Affairs got N10.42 billion extra allocation on its budget, while the Ministry of Information and Culture received additional N5.67 billion on its budget.

Other ministries with increased budget include: Ministry of Interior (N2.58 billion); Ministry of Health (N16 billion); Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (N30.21 billion).

Meanwhile, the budget allocation for the Ministry of Education was slashed by N63.63 billion to N542.16 billion, indicating 10.5 percent cut from the N605.8 billion earlier proposed.

When compared to the entire 2018 Budget, the ministry’s budget now accounts for only 5.9 percent, a far cry from the 26 percent recommended by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The Ministry of Transportation budget was reduced by N11.68 billion, while Ministry of Petroleum Resources had its budget cut by N5.15 billion.

By Oluwasegun Olakoyenikan…

 

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