The future is bright – Buhari

By ANDREW OJIEZEL

IN apparent bid to douse the tension being created by the 2016 budget,President Muhammadu Buhari has explained that the capital expenditure for the 2016 budget had been increased from N557 billion in 2015 to N1.8 trillion in 2016.

He disclosed this while presenting the 2016 Federal Budget at a joint session of the National Assembly.

Buhari said that the increased vote for capital expenditure was to deliver on development objectives of the administration.

He also said that it was a sign of government’s commitment to sustainable development.

“Distinguished and honourable members of the National Assembly, for the first time in many years, capital expenditure will represent 30 per cent of our total budget.

“In future, we intend to raise the percentage allocation for capital expenditure.

“This is a fulfillment of our promise to align expenditure to our long-term objectives and a sign of government’s commitment to sustainable development.

“The 223 per cent growth in capital expenditure demonstrates our desire to make Nigeria more competitive and start the journey to deliver sustainable development in our country,” he said.

Buhari said that the increased capital expenditure would commit significant resources to critical sectors.
Some of the capital allocations are: Works, Power and Housing to get N433.4 billion, Transport – N202.0 billion, Special Intervention Programs – N200.0 billion, Defence – N134.6 billion and Interior – N53.1 billion.

He also said that investments in infrastructure and security were meant to support government’s reforms in agriculture, solid minerals and other core job creating sectors of the economy.

“We will invest to safeguard lives and property; we will invest in equipping our farmers with the right tools, technology and techniques.

“We will invest in empowering and enabling our miners to operate in a safe, secure and humane environment.

“We will invest in training our youths through the revival of our technical and vocational institutions to ensure they are competent enough to seize the opportunities that will arise from this economic revival,’’ he said.

The President, however, said that the future was indeed bright and appealed to Nigerians to work together to ensure the needed development.