Says proposal can’t grow economy
ABUJA, Nigeria – The senator representing Benue South Senatorial District and Senate Minority Leader, Comrade Abba Moro, PhD, on Thursday expressed concern over the proposed exchange rate in the 2025 budget, as presented to the National Assembly by the President, Ahmed Bola Tinubu GCFR on Wednesday.
President Tinubu, in his presentation, proposed an exchange rate of N1,500 to $1 in the budget.
According to Emmanuel Eche’Ofun John, Moro’s media adviser, the Minority Leader, while making his contribution to the debate on the budget on the floor of the senate, said the proposed exchange rate would not be able to grow the country’s economy and should be reviewed.
He said the exchange rate had become a standard of transaction in the country and an excuse that marketers and service providers use to arbitrarily inflate prices of goods and services.
His words: “In Nigeria today, pepper sellers increase prices of pepper because of exchange rate, same with tomato sellers, chicken sellers, etc, even though we are transacting in naira. More efforts should be made as the proposed exchange rate, expected and encapsulated in the 2025 budget is unacceptable.”
On Defence, the Minority Leader said the proposed allocation of N4.91trn looked very good on its face. He said with a proper timeline of execution of the security arrangement contained in the budget, the issue of insecurity would become a thing of the past, stating that other things would likely fall in place with security in place.
On the N3.52trn allocation for Education, Senator Moro said it fell below the 26% of country’s annual budget postulated by United Nations Education Fund. He called for a review for effective tackling of the challenges in the education sector, especially that our educational institutions are facing infrastructural decay.
The Minority Leader expressed his support for the general principle of the budget but urged the legislative and executive arms of government to look into the concerns raised with a view to addressing them.
He said if the budget was effectively and judiciously implemented, Nigeria would be making a move in the right direction. The Senate Minority Leader advised Mr President to walk the talk by plugging all loopholes and leakages in finance administration.
