Atiku Abubakar blasts Buhari over 2021 proposed budget

 

 The erstwhile presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, has faulted the 2021 proposed budget by President Muhammadu Buhari.

 

Atiku said the 2021 budget proposal contravened the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

 

Recall that Buhari had presented the proposed 2021 budget to the joint session of the National Assembly, a few days ago.

 

However, a statement Atiku personally signed, stressed that the N5.21 trillion budget deficit amounted to over 3.5 per cent of Nigeria’s 2019 Gross Domestic Product, GDP.

 

Abubakar said this in a statement he personally signed, which was made available to journalists on Friday.

 

The statement reads partly: “Looking at the 2021 budget proposal placed before the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, October 8, 2020, a number of issues, very grave and perhaps disturbing issues arise.

“This is contrary to the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007, which provides in Part II, Section 12, subsection 1 that: ‘Aggregate Expenditure and the Aggregate amount appropriated by the National Assembly for each financial year shall not be more than the estimated aggregate revenue plus a deficit, not exceeding three per cent of the estimated Gross Domestic Product or any sustainable percentage as may be determined by the national Assembly for each financial year.”