2021 Budget: Nigerians React As National Assembly Gets Bigger Share Of The National Cake, Taking Home A Whooping Sum Of N128 Billion

The National Assembly will be funded with N128 billion in 2021.

This is as the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), admitted that the Federal Government is spending more on recurrent expenditure.

Buhari, while presenting the 2021 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly on Thursday, noted that personnel cost is still the largest component of budget expenditure.

The President blamed this on non-existent personnel (ghost workers) and unauthorised allowances introduced by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies.

Buhari, therefore, ordered heads of the MDAs to get approval before any recruitment.

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, had said the National Assembly is ready to pass the 2021 Appropriation Bill before the end of 2020.

Lawan made this known in his opening remarks before Buhari was called to lay the national budget before the joint session of the National Assembly.

The Senate President recalled how the parliament promised to pass the 2020 budget before the year ended, which was achieved.

The allocation on the subject matter has made citizens cry out against the development.

A social media influencer took to Twitter to express his dissatisfaction on the 2021 Budget, tweeting, 

“Let’s reduce cost of governance but NO. Peep how much was allocated to the National Assembly in the 2021 budget estimates.

•NNPC = 29.7bn

•NJC = N110bn

•UBEC = N70.05bn

•INEC = N40bn

•NASS = N128bn

•PCC = N5.2bn

•NHRC = N3bn

•Basic Health = N35.03bn

#FGNBudget2021”

SERAP, a law firm founded by Femi Falana, SAN, tweeted, 

“N128bn budget for National Assembly is a travesty.

N128bn budget for National Assembly is a travesty.

N128bn budget for National Assembly is a travesty.

N128bn budget for National Assembly is a travesty.

N128bn budget for National Assembly is a travesty.”

SERAP also threatened to sue the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan and Speaker House of Reps, Femi Gbajamiala, except they urgently push to cut the N128 billion allocated to NASS for other purposes, such as health and education.

Another Nigerian wrote,

“N128 Billion for the National Assembly alone.

You see why people see politics as a lucrative career and not a platform of transformational leadership.

Let me see the Nigerian lawmaker that will oppose these figures ?”