The House of Representatives has passed the 2025 appropriation bill of N49.7 trillion presented to the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday for second reading.
Leading the debate on the bill at the pl Mary on Thursday, the Leader of the House, Hon. Julius Ihonvbere commended the determination of the government to reduce inflation to 15 per cent in 2015,.
He added that the target was realisable if all Nigerians contribute their quota, saying the President has demonstrated serious courage and leadership in moving the nation forward.
Ihonvbere said Tinubu admitted during the budget presentation that Nigerians were going through rough times, stressing that for once, Nigerians are seeing a government that was ready to refocus the economy.
In his submission, the Minority Leader of the House, Hon. Kingsley Chinda said the budget was overtly over ambitious in spite of the President’s optimism about the budget.
He was of the opinion that if well implemented, the budget portend something good for the Nigerians.
Chinda noted that Nigerians must not lose sight of the fact that the budget was merely a projection, adding that while considering whether the projections are realisable, the indices on ground must be considered.
Hia words: “Our indices are not completely correct. So, it is not yet uhuru. The plan to reduce inflation from about 35 per cent to 15 percent is over ambitious and I don’t see how we can achieve that. If we are able to achieve security in 2025, will that improve food security in 2025. I don’t think so. We can be looking at 2026 for food security.
“The budget for security will not take us to the promised land. In terms of revenue generation, the revenue sources remained the same. The concern is that we should not over tax the people again. We should be talking about expanding the revenue sources, tighten the tax net.
“The issue of revenue target is key, while the amount for deficit appears to be too high. With this figure, I don’t see how Nigerians will not go to bed hungry in 2025.
“How do we achieve an exchange rate of N1,500 when we have market forces dictating the exchange. What are the things on ground that will crash the exchange rate?