Buhari Submits 2019 Budget to National Assembly

Nigeria is to cough out the sum of N4.5bn as severance benefits for retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries while former heads of government agencies and parastatals would receive N1bn as severance benefits, in addition to this, former Nigerian leaders made up of ex-Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan and their Chiefs of Staff are to receive N2.3bn as benefits in 2019.

This is contained in the budget document recently submitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to inside sources, the Federal Government also earmarked the sum of N3bn for outsourced services and N5bn for ‘margin for increased in costs’ while N65bn was budgeted for re-integration of transformed ex-militants and contingency got N15.8bn.

The counter-insurgency operations in the North-East, such as Operation Lafiya Dole and other military operations are expected to cost N75bn. The tertiary institutions have not been left out since the Federal Government allocated N20bn for university revitalization and N20bn for additional support to universities.

Public service wage adjustment for ministries, departments and agencies including arrears of promotion and salary increases and severance benefits got the sum of N110bn, another N22.7bn was allocated for outstanding terminal benefits of retired Nigeria Airways workers.

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps is proposed to construct public schools with N514.6m and N170.4m for construction of stations/barracks. If approved, the Nigeria Police Force will get N103m for land acquisition and N4.9bn for police stations/barracks construction.

Justice ministry gets N1bn for election logistics’ support for 2019, this N1bn planned expense is reported to have jerked the proposed budget up by about 13.9 per cent when compared to the ministry’s 2018 budget.