President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Abuja pledged to restore the confidence of Nigerians in governance and steer Nigeria to greatness.
Buhari gave the assurance while presenting the 2016 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly.
He announced a budget proposal of N6.08 trillion for the year, indicating an increase from the N4.3 trillion approved in 2015.
The President said in spite of global economic uncertainties, Nigerians must remain steadfast and be committed to steer the country back to greatness.
He said: “The Nigerian economy needs to move away from dependency on oil; our growth must be inclusive. Nigerians must be part of the growth story.
“As a government, we shall deliver security, jobs and infrastructure. This is the right of all Nigerians.
“I know many people will say: ‘I have heard this before.’ Indeed, trust in government, due to the abuse and negligence of the past, is at an all-time low.
“This means we must go back to basics.
“Our actions will speak for us. My team of dedicated, committed and patriotic Nigerians are well aware of the task ahead and I can assure you that we are taking on the challenge.
“We will not betray the trust reposed in us. We will welcome and be responsive to your feedback and criticisms.
“We are here to serve, and indeed, Nigerians will get the service they have longed for and which they rightly deserve.”
The President said the government could not do it alone and called on all Nigerians to be optimistic that prosperity will be delivered in due course.
Buhari’s party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) hailed the budget proposal in a statement issued by its Assistant Director Publicity, Mr Edegbe Odemwingie.
In the statement, the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, assured that many of the promises made to the electorate by the party in the 2015 presidential campaign were contained in the proposed budget.
The statement assured that the current administration’s pro-people policies would be implemented in the 2016 financial year.
It said: “In fulfilment of APC’s election promises to the Nigerian electorate, the party welcomes the proposed social welfare programmes contained in the proposed 2016 National Budget submitted to the National Assembly.
”President Buhari has proposed N500 billion to pay unemployed Nigerian graduates (post-NYSC grant) and feed school children, among other social welfare programmes in 2016.
“A phased social welfare programme created to cater for a larger population of the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians upon the evidence of children’s enrolment in school and evidence of immunisation has also been proposed to the National Assembly.
“President Buhari has also promised that 500,000 new teachers would be recruited.
“Compared to the last 16 years, Nigerians are getting a much better deal from the seven-month old APC-led administration. On the strength of these proposals, the future holds more dividends of democracy for Nigerians.
“It is reassuring that the Federal Government has recovered huge sums from looters of our common wealth, which will be injected into the 2016 National Budget,” it said.
The statement called for a speedy passage of the proposed budget.
It urged National Assembly to rise above political, regional and ethnic sentiments and pass the proposal in the best interest on Nigeria.
Unimpressed, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) described the budget as a big fraud and executive conspiracy tailored towards mortgaging the future of the nation.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the PDP queried Buhari’s decision to borrow N2 trillion, the biggest in the history of the nation as the height of recklessness and deceit from a government that trends on propaganda.
The party accused the Federal Government of using bogus welfare programme and phantom capital projects as cover and conduit to siphon the funds to satisfy partisan interests, particularly to settle huge campaign debts.
“It is obvious that this budget is an extension of the campaign promises of the APC government, presented as a manifesto filled with bogus promises which implementation will be inconclusive, thereby allowing the APC to once again deny their promises.
“There has never been any known economy in the world where government deliberately mortgage the future of its nation by borrowing excessively to finance partisan interests while hiding under bogus welfare programmes. This is moreso important as the APC in reeling out their bogus campaign promises never informed Nigerians that they would mortgage their future through excessive borrowing.
“We have it on good authority that this is the first in the series of APC borrowings which would leave the future generation of Nigerians under the burden of huge debts after four years,” it argued.
The PDP said the budget clearly shows that after seven months in power, President Buhari and the APC are yet to differentiate between governance and campaign propaganda.
