2020 BUDGET: Buhari presented a lifeless proposal —Omokri

Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan and fierce critic of President Muhammadu Buhari, has described as lifeless, the 2020 budget Buhari presented to the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Noting that Buhari had spent more on debt servicing than capital expenditure, he described the president as a ‘locust’ that ‘consumes without producing”.

In a series of tweet on Wednesday, which he hash-tagged #BuharisLifelessBudget, Omokri said that the “saddest” thing about the budget was that Buhari, “who has more than doubled Nigeria’s debt from ₦11 trillion in 2015, to ₦24 trillion today, is depending on more debt for his budget.”

The tweets read:

“To show how much General @MBuhari has spent your future away, consider that in his budget, debt servicing takes ₦2.45trn, which is more than capital expenditure of ₦2.14trn. Mind you, debt servicing is paying interest on the debt, not repaying the debt.

“General @MBuhari is spending more on debt servicing (paying interest on debt) than capital expenditure because he more than doubled Nigeria’s debt from ₦11 trillion in 2015, to ₦24 trillion today. Buhari is a locust. He consumes without producing.

“General @MBuhari’s 2020 budget adopted an exchange rate of ₦305 to $1. Manufacturers, ordinary Nigerians and smaller and medium scale enterprises don’t get it at that rate. Buhari rather gives it to pilgrims to Mecca and his cronies, like Nasir Danu.

“Nigeria can never grow with General @MBuhari’s 2020 lifeless budget. How can you devote ONE quarter (1/4) of your budget for debt servicing, half (1/2) for paying salaries, with only one fifth (1/5) for capital expenditure? You are eating your future.

“To show how selfish General @MBuhari is, Health has a paltry ₦46bn, because he and his family go to London for their health needs. That is why he budgeted multiple billions for the Presidential Jet, so his children can fly, while you die! God forbid!

“As is typical of the affidavit wielding General @MBuhari, Education is not a priority, with Works and Housing, Transportation, and other sectors getting bigger allocation. Remember that under @GEJonathan, education got the highest sectoral allocation!

“The saddest thing about this budget is that General @MBuhari, who has more than doubled Nigeria’s debt from ₦11 trillion in 2015, to ₦24 trillion today, is depending on more debt for his budget. For every ₦1 Buhari spends, He is borrowing almost ₦3.

READ ALSO: 2020 Budget: Buhari has done what his predecessors could not – BMO

“General @MBuhari publicly insulted ex President Obasanjo when he wrote a letter warning him. But Obasanjo has the moral authority to warn. Obasanjo paid off Nigeria’s entire debt, but Buhari has more than doubled it ₦11 trillion, to ₦24 trillion.

“General @MBuhari’s budget, as usual, contains very optimistic revenue targets. But he did not meet his target in 2916, 2017, 2018 and 2019, so who is he fooling? The only target Buhari has met since he took office is the target to impoverish Nigerians.

“Under General @MBuhari, Nigeria obviously doesn’t make enough to properly fund our budgets. Yet, Buhari bought a ₦200 million @MercedesBenz Maybach for himself while the @NGRSenate budgeted ₦5.5 billion for SUVs. Obviously, the problem is our leaders!”

Omokri had, also recently, faulted claims Buhari made in his October 1, Independence Day national broadcast, describing them as lies.

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