Nigeria has no hope in 2019 budget presented by Buhari, says Saraki

The president of the Nigerian Senate, Bukola Saraki, on Thursday, December 20, described the 2019 appropriation bill presented to a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday, December 19, by President Muhammadu Buhari as hopeless.

Saraki, who spoke as the director general of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council (PCCO) in Abuja, at a town hall meeting the party’s flagbearer, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, had with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), further argued that Nigerians were safer in 2015 than they are today.

According to Saraki, the budget presented by Buhari “has no future because the statistics do not indicate how it will be funded.”

“There must be an alternative and that is what we hope that by this evening speaking to our candidate and vice presidential candidate, not based on sentiments, we are not voting on sentiments we are voting on what is the need for you.


“How is your life going to be better? Which party offers you a better future because we see you as those who are patriotic and committed. It’s not about what you’ll get today. It’s about the great country a lot of you have been passing that sacrifice over the years.”

Saraki further predicted that President Buhari will not attend the January 19, 2019, presidential debate adding that anyone that wants to lead the country and by extension African should be able to tell the people what he wants to do.

“This is an interactive session I’m not sure whether the other political parties will give you an opportunity like this to ask them any question. I’m told that one has debated and you already know the answer to that debate. On the second one, I’m very sure he’s not going to debate. So how do you assess somebody who is not ready to tell you what he’s going to do?

“Those days are gone, my good people, the future of this country, a country that leads the continent that is not the example we want to set for this continent. The whole world is going in a direction, if you’re seeking a position, you must come and tell people what you want to do, you must sit down and they’ll ask you questions and that is why we’re here.

“Today is your day, we will sit down and take questions, I hope at the end of the exercise you will stand up and say yes this is the team that will secure Nigeria, this is the team that will unite Nigeria, this is the team that will fight the poverty in town and bring a bright future.”

It had earlier been reported that President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, December 19, proposed a budget of N8.83 trillion for 2019 to a joint session of the National Assembly, saying the budget was prepared after wide consultations.

According to the budget, about a quarter of the sum (N2.14 trillion) will be used for debt servicing while N2.031 trillion will be used for capital expenditure.