NewStats: 3,263,963 , 8,182,096 topics. Date: Monday, 09 June 2025 at 05:08 AM 374f2o

Former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, has faulted the latest review of the 2020 budget by the Federal Government, saying it shows that the regime has lost touch with current global economic realities.

Rather than reviewing the budget, Atiku advised the FG to sell eight or nine of the presidential jets and cancel the N27bn earmarked for the renovation of the National Assembly complex.

Atiku said this in a statement in Abuja, on Thursday. He expressed disappointment that despite the crash of oil prices in the international market and the nation’s inability to expand its revenue base, the regime only slashed the budget by a “mere 0.6 per cent.”

The former Vice President explained that significant cuts in funds budgeted for presidential feeding and transport as well as non-essential sub heads will go a long way in ensuring that Nigerians get a better deal.

Atiku said, “It is to my consternation that despite the crash in the price of oil, and the inability of Nigeria to expand our revenue base through the non-oil sector, the Federal “Government of Nigeria has only seen fit to slash our budget by a mere 0.6 per cent, from N10.594trn to N10.523trn. This represents a reduction of only N71bn.

According to him, as at the time the budget was first presented to the National Assembly on Tuesday October 8, 2019, it was predicated on a crude oil production of 2.18 million barrels a day, at an expected oil price of $57 per barrel. He said this situation has since changed.

He pointed out that Saudi Arabia, a nation with a much stronger production capacity than ours and with a larger global market share, as well as foreign reserves that is 12 times ours, has slashed her budget by almost 30%. Ditto for other oil economies.

He said, “My counsel to the Federal Government of Nigeria is this: put Nigerians first and cut your coat, not according to your size, but according to your cloth.

“Realistically slash the budget. Every pork barrel has to go. The billions budgeted for the travels and feeding of the President and Vice President has to be reduced. The N27bn budget for the renovation of the National Assembly has to go.

“The massive budgets to run both the Presidency and the Legislature has to be downsized. The budget for purchasing luxury cars for the President, his vice, and other political office holders must be jettisoned. Leave the salaries of civil servants alone, but reduce the salaries of political appointees. Sell 8 or 9 of the jets in the Presidential Air Fleet.

“Any budget slash that is less than 25% will not be in the interest of Nigeria. And beyond a budget slash, Nigeria needs a budget realignment, to redirect expenditure away from running a massive bureaucracy, into social development sectors like education infrastructure, and above all, healthcare. We must invest in the goose that lays the golden egg – the Nigerian people.”

https://punchng.com/sell-presidential-jets-cancel-n27bn-national-assembly-renovation-fund-atiku/

Atiku has valid points. This is how u should play opposition. Don't just criticize, profer solutions. I personally endorse that the 27billion budgeted for renovating the national Assembly complex be scrapped

the way this man is sounding i think if he was the president he would have given this country as a loan to global market

I am not an Atiku fan, but he is making sense, Buhari was saying he will sell off some Presidential jets when he becomes president till today he is yet to sell one. Sell the Damn jets and fund the budget, but oga is bent on borrow borrow, Those Jets plus Abacha loot are enough to fund the budget let's not even mention revenues coming from IGR, Customs etc

They give good advices when they're in the opposition camp. But once you allow them into power they'll do a million times worse.

Disman like buying and selling..no 1da obansanjo say make him head privatization committee during their reign.

A man that grounded Nigeria power sector with his fellow idiotic Boss have no audacity to educate a world class illiterate



you foolish politicians are all the same. God punish all Nigeria present politicians, you will not know peace in your lifetime with the way you wasted this country resources


Thunder fire Atiku Hypocrisy there. foolish man

Excellent ideas based on current realities, understanding of the time and situations we are in is key to survival of the economy and the nation.

They Must Be Some Mute Advicers From The Presidency.

With this advice, there is still need to adjust the budget. The source of income in the budget is from crude oil and not from sales of presidential jets. How much can government make from sales of those jets. Renovation of national assembly has automatically removed itself due to the fund available.

This same Atiku will still go behind to fund the national assembly for buhari's impeachment if he dare tampers with their renovation fund. Useless hypos

Osi gini Sell presidential jet Chaiii high man dey talk.....

But no, we just approved 600m to buy 16 vehicles

JAOS:
the way this man is sounding i think if he was the president he would have given this country as a loan to global market

Go back and read it again.
This time, SLOWLY

Some pipu will not like this news

The billions
budgeted for the
travels and feeding
of the President and
Vice President has
to be reduced. The
N27bn budget for
the renovation of
the National
Assembly has to go.
“The massive
budgets to run both
the Presidency and
the Legislature has
to be downsized.
The budget for
purchasing luxury
cars for the
President, his vice,
and other political
office holders must
be jettisoned. Leave
the salaries of civil
servants alone, but
reduce the salaries
of political
appointees. Sell 8 or
9 of the jets in the
Presidential Air
Fleet.

Simple question, if he was the president will he sell any presidential jet. Simply no. This is pure Hypocrisy

Atiku would have made a better President with Peter Obi beside him as his Vice.



I just don't know why good things elope Nigeria whenever we are at the verge of getting it right. You can imagine where Nigeria would have been today if GoodLuck Jonathan was still the President but he had to leave the forefront because too many people were against him and now we can see the Government some of us wanted. Nobody is saying sai Baba anymore, all the empty promises that made some of us go against a government that was doing it right have all gone down the drainage and now we are back here where anything goes and nobody dare questions or ask questions anymore, nobody speaks or protests anymore. I what so many of them did just to make sure Jonathan and his government appeared bad but today none of those people speak anymore. They have suddenly become deaf and dumb & too blind to see, now in their houses enduring and suffering the pains they brought upon their fellow citizens.



Will some Nigerians learn? No.
The day we start thinking ahead, that's the day Nigeria will move forward but for now, let us partake in the errors committed by a few in the past.

Ok

JAOS:
the way this man is sounding i think if he was the president he would have given this country as a loan to global market

and ur Buhari is not gradually selling us with daily loans?....I just pray we don't owe much to be pronunced dead

Ok

After we sell the presidential jets and use it to pay Political elites salary for just one month then what next? Those jets are not the problem of Nigeria but bad governance, heavy reccurent expenditure and corruption ..all the jets in our presidential fleet can't fetch the govt 75 milllion dollars yet under in the past one month we have seen a Buhari minister claim she distributed 200 million dollars to poor people on the street ..Nigerias mismanagement is beyond those jets , if we are serious to getting this country financially on track the we need to look are the sources of our reccurent expenditure items especially the payroll of the political class and over populated unproductive civil service .

Sorry use your advice and help save your ailing companies that keep sacking workers. PMB has not sack a single Federal Worker despite the challenges. This foolish advice should have been reserved for yourself pre elections when you squandered your resources in the hope that you can sell NNPC and reinvigorate your purse.

Well said
I really do not like this man, but there is sense in what he said.

If not that this man has questionable character by now he would have been our president. Please anything you do tomorrow.

It's #37b, punch should have done well na

Reduce the cost of governance.

The wasteful government of Buhari is only here to steal, kill, and destroy.

I agree with atiku on this. There are a whole lots of areas to cut of govt expenditures in order to save cost in this trying times of limited resources. I doubt if the criminals in the senate and reps will agree to this cos it will certainly get to their jumbo pay. Polithifians

Atiku is a true replica of do as I say, but don't do as I do. Was his sense on compulsory leave when he was in power that he didn't move for all the reforms he is presently preaching? Listen to Atiku at your own perils.

Sack workers like Mikano 600 (lagos), Gotel TV 100 (Adamawa) , American British University 400 (Adamawa)

Useless Hypocrite, why not use his own advise rather than sacking people in his own firm, he could had sold some of his choice properties in UAE like Sahara Mall Sharjah, and numerious tower apartment buildings in Palm Jumeirah Dubai

If this monafiq father of Ipobian didnt conive with Elrufai as BPE boss to sell , Delta Steel plant like scrap Nigeria would be making money outside oil from steel based products just has the koreans, If he never sold NITEL off Nigeria would had being making money like British do from Btitish Telecoms, and UAE does with Etisalat worldwide

.

Always amazes me how EVERY politician who is not in power knows EXACTLY what to do to make Nigeria better. You would think all we need to do is put them in power and our land will begin flowing with milk and honey. SMH vigorously

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