NIGERIAN SENATE ASKS PRESIDENT BUHARI TO SCRAP REDUNDANT FEDERAL AGENCIES

The Nigerian Senate has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to implement the Economic Sustainability Plan so as to strengthen the economy in view of the resultant impact occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic.

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, gave the charge on Thursday in a welcome address delivered during the presentation of the 2021 budget estimate by President Buhari at a joint session of the National Assembly.

According to Lawan, there was the urgent need by the government to sustain programmes aimed at economic diversification, not only because of the unpredictable nature of oil revenue but due to recent uncertainties arising from the Coronavirus outbreak.

He added that sufficient injection of funds into such programmes would give a boost to the nation’s economy.

Lawan said, “The implementation of the 2020 budget has shown a remarkable improvement over the previous years.

The Senate President while pledging the National Assembly’s readiness to pass the 2021 budget before the end of the year, said doing so “will continue to enable planning and enhance productivity and efficiency in the management and application of our resources”.

He, however, lamented that the Nigerian Government had resorted to borrowing to fund critical projects in the budget due to inadequate revenue at its disposal.

Lawan blamed government’s low revenue profile owing to leakages on the inefficiency of revenue generating agencies.