2021 Budget: Lawmakers Applaud N128bn For NASS Despite Lawan’s Complain Of ‘High Recurrent Expenditure’

Details of the 2021 budget presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday have shown that the legislature would get N128 billion.

This is despite complaints about “high recurrent expenditure profile of government” by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, on Wednesday.

The lawmakers gave a big round of applause after President Buhari mentioned the allocation of N128 billion to the National Assembly.

Whereas Lawan had suggested the merger of some government agencies to reduce cost of governance during Wednesday’s plenary of the Senate.

He had said, “Whenever we talk of cost of governance, we think of how to merge the different agencies.

“I think there is need for us to muster the political will, because we know what to do, but when it comes to doing the right thing, we find it difficult to do it.

“I think the time has come for government to do so, and government includes us, to address this issue.

“There are so many agencies, and these are agencies that were created to address specific challenges at the time.

“Now, they are irrelevant. They are simply conduits that are given money every year, while they have no value to add to governance.

“We need to really work closely with the Executive arm of Government. I know it is going to be a tough call, because it will be said this is not a time for people to lose their jobs, but somehow we need to find a way out of this as the cost of governance is high.”

Lawan had also cautioned the Buhari administration against incessant borrowing, warning that the federal government may end up spending a chunk of its revenue on debts servicing.

Meanwhile, President Buhari had presented N13.08 trillion to the federal lawmakers, out of which the National Assembly would be funded with N128 billion.

Buhari, during his presentation of the 2021 Appropriation Bill before a joint session of the National Assembly on Thursday, had described revenue generation as the “biggest challenge” of his administration.

The president, however, said his administration had ordered ministers to plug leakages in revenue-generating agencies under their supervision to as to help the government increase its income