SERAP To Buhari: Slash Presidency, NASS Budgets Instead Of Health, Education

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari against slashing the country’s education and health budgets.

The federal government had proposed to cut the budgets of both sectors in the aftermath of the negative economic realities brought about by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In the proposed 2020 revised budget, the Buhari administration proposed a slash of N50.76 billion from the N111.78billion budgeted for the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) to bring it down to N61.02billion and a cut of N26.51billion from the N44.49billion allocated to Basic Healthcare to bring it down to. N17.98billion.

But speaking in a statement posted on its Facebook page on Friday, SERAP asked the federal government to instead slash the budgets of the National Assembly and the Aso Rock Presidential Villa.

“We urge President Buhari to urgently reverse the proposal to cut UBEC budget from N111.78bn to N61.02bn & basic healthcare budget from N44.49bn to N17.98bn.

“Cutting UBEC budget from N111.78bn to N61.02b would keep 16million Nigerian children on the street. Cutting healthcare budget from N44.49bn to N17.98bn would make Nigerians vulnerable to COVID-19.

“We propose cutting the National Assembly and Aso Rock budgets instead. We’ll see in court if this proposal is implemented,” said the rights group.

Meanwhile, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had similarly kicked against the federal government’s move to slash health and education budgets in the revised 2020 budget.