The controversial budget of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja Nyesom Wike has vehemently questioned the mantra of the administration of President Bola Ahmed TInubu that prudence would be the watch word of the administration in dispensing the meager resources of the nation
By Chiemerie Chibuike
Chief Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT has been constantly hogging headlines of national dailies in recent time, and in most cases for negative reasons. If he is not revoking Certificate of Occupancy of land owners in Abuja, he is dislocating some resident of Abuja under the flimsy excuse that they are clog in the wheel of infrastructural development of Abuja.
Wike’s recent controversial budget appears to be the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. In the said budget he said that N15 billion has been earmarked for the building of the Vice President’s residence in Abuja. This obnoxious proposal has made tongue to wag as to the rationale behind such humongous spending when the economy of the country is prostrate. He did not stop at that he said that N2.9 billion would be used for the media in the controversial budget that has further exposed the insensitivity of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The controversial budget has been knocked in various quarters, adding that the budget does not in any way attend to the myriads of issues facing the indigene of Abuja that are battling with abject poverty. Quipped some political observers: “Why build another residence for the Vice President when the existing one is exotic enough for the status of the Vice President of the country?” Information has it that in the Supplementary budget presented to the National Assembly recently, rehabilitation of the residence of the Vice President featured prominently running into billions of naira, making people to ask if you know that you are rehabilitating the residence of the No 2 citizen of the country why embark on a new one?
Mr. Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of Labour Party, LP in the 2023 controversial election has berated the idea behind the proposal of such senseless spending when there are pressing issues to be attended to in the country. Mr. Obi argued that the said money could have be ploughed to education, health and transportation which has direct impact on the citizens of the country instead of spending on things that has no bearing on the development of the country. The presidential candidate of LP in the 2023 presidential election said that this prolificacy on the part of the government of the day has to stop if we are going to make significant progress in development, adding that it is unacceptable in an economy that is jerking constantly for the leaders of the country to embark on spending spree that has no direct bearing on the human capital development in the country or is used to wean the country out consumption and concentrate on production as a sure way of lifting the country out of abject poverty and abject unemployment.
The views of Obi has been shared and supported by experts who bemoaned the insensitivity of the government of the day in the plight of the populace no thanks to the harsh economic reality occasioned by unplanned removal of the fuel subsidy and unbridled borrowing of the ruling All progressives Congress, APC for the past eight years, still counting. Experts berated Wike for using money that would have been used to provide infrastructure in Abuja for something that does not add to the economic fortunes of the state. According to the experts, Wike is talking like somebody who has lost touch with reality. The questionable spending in fiscal year that the Minister of FCT proposed has further exposed the fact that the administration of President Tinubu has nothing to offer in the years to come. The experts concluded that borrowing to sponsor projects that has no contribution to creation of employment, or provision of viable infrastructure is a bad omen for the future generation yet unborn because the servicing of the debts would be endless.
