The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the N27.5 trillion budget for the 2024 fiscal year as proposed by President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly as a huge disservice, which, if allowed to pass, will further asphyxiate Nigerians and plunge the country into more economic depression and hopelessness.
In a statement on Wednesday, signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, the PDP also described the claim by President Tinubu that the budget is a budget of Renewed Hope as conjured, unfounded, and deceptive, adding that the budget is completely devoid of concrete mechanisms to revive the economy, create jobs, address the comatose manufacturing and productive sectors, address human capital development deficiencies, and deplete the life expectancy of Nigerian citizens.
Grow your business with us
“The 2024 budget is filled with heavily padded figures, duplicated items, and several false statistics, including claims of a global increase in inflation rate as an excuse for an impending, excruciating increase in taxes and interest rates to the detriment of our productive sector.
“It is clear that the 2024 budget, as proposed with its heavy provisions for the luxury appetite of the Presidency and All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders, which is predicated and expected to be funded from multilateral and bilateral foreign loans and increased taxes on Nigerians, is designed to further mortgage our nation and strangulate the already impoverished Nigerians.
“The budget framework with respect to Recurrent Expenditure Vote of N9.9 trillion, Capital Expenditure Vote of N8.7 trillion and N8.25 trillion for debt services is unsustainable and unrealisable in view of the stated outstanding debt and proposed borrowing, which is targeted mainly to finance consumption, luxury appetite, and debt servicing.
“The lack of concrete and verifiable action plans to revive the manufacturing, energy, agricultural, and education sectors, which are the main drivers of any economy, is a pointer that the Tinubu-led APC government is bereft of ideas and completely disconnected from the reality of life being faced by Nigerians,” the PDP said.
The party said, “it is of grave concern that the President stated in the budget speech that his government has “adopted a Naira to US Dollar exchange rate of N750 per US Dollar for 2024.
“This is a clear admission of failure, incapacity, and lack of direction by the APC administration to manage and grow the economy in such a way as to strengthen the national currency, productivity, and competitiveness in the global market.
“It has further confirmed that the numerous promises by the President and officials of his government asserting a monetary policy to strengthen the naira have been a deceptive ploy, which is consistent with the APC in the past eight and a half years.
“By adopting a defeatist N750 per US Dollar exchange rate, President Tinubu has further plunged our economy into the abyss, weakened our productive sector, wrecked the purchasing power of Nigerians and the capacity of the youths to be creative, recognising that it will be almost impossible for Small and Medium Enterprises, as well as Startups to access capital under such a suffocating budget.
“Every responsible leadership strives to work for and defend its national currency. Unfortunately, the Tinubu-led government has surrendered our nation currency and pride to the whims and caprices of the so-called “market forces”.
The PDP insists that with a transparent, honest, and innovative management of resources and economic potential of the nation, without inordinate pursuit of luxury consumption by a few individuals in leadership positions, as witnessed under the APC, the economy will witness a rapid turn-around, and the naira will strengthen to its value of below N200 per US dollar bequeathed by the PDP to the APC in 2015.
It said, “This 2024 budget, as presented by President Tinubu, therefore represents hopelessness for Nigerians. It is pathetic that the President, whose main duty is to provide for the security and welfare of Nigerians as provided for in Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), could present a budget that is not geared towards the attainment of that constitutional duty imposed on him.”
The PDP calls on the National Assembly, pursuant to its constitutional duty under Sections 80, 81, and 82 of the 1999 Constitution, to reject the 2024 budget as presented and use its legislative powers to disassemble the budget and make provisions that are critical and pivotal to the growth of the economy and the welfare of Nigerians.