The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has demanded a total review of the 2024 budget.
The Labour Party leader asked the government to prioritize proffering lasting solutions to the nation’s deteriorating security situation, widespread poverty, food insecurity, and crumbling infrastructure.
Obi made this appeal in a statement via his verified X handle on Monday.
His call comes on the heels of controversies surrounding the 2024 budget and its allocation of resources.
He stated, “Having followed the controversies trailing the 2024 budget, and having read some of the budgetary provisions and allocations of resources, I wish to respectfully appeal for a total review of the entire budget.”
Obi urged swift action from both the executive and legislative branches, saying the government must attend to the urgency of the matter.
He stated, “The Executive and Legislative arms should initiate an immediate review of the budget as it is still in early days of implementation in order to enable them to do urgent virement of resources to critical areas.”
Obi said there is a need to allocate adequate funding to critical sectors such as security, poverty alleviation, food security, and power supply.
“The nation’s resources should adequately be appropriated to critical areas like security, fighting poverty and solving the challenges of hunger and food insecurity, power supply, especially considering the difficult times that we are in.
“We have become one of the hungriest nations in the world and one of the most difficult nations in the world to live in, with food prices constantly going out of the reach of most Nigerians. Power supply is abysmally poor, and Nigerians are now mostly in total darkness, as over 60% are without power supply.
“We now hold the enviable position of having the highest number of out of school children, with about 20 million out-of-school children. We need to take our children off the streets and give them access to basic education.