FG Budgets N27bn For NASS Renovation, Cuts Health To N25.5bn

The Federal government has budgeted N27bn for the renovation of the National Assembly complex while slashing the budget for primary health care from N44.4bn to N25.5bn in the revised 2020 budget.

Recall that N37bn had been budgeted for the renovation of the Assembly complex in the initial budget but following the drop in the price of crude oil and a fall in the projected government revenue, it was learnt that the Federal Government decided to reduce the budget for the renovation.

In the proposed revised budget, while the National Assembly complex renovation budget was reduced to N27.7bn (a reduction of 25.1 per cent), the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, which is meant to cater for all the primary healthcare centres across the 774 local government areas in the country, was significantly reduced by N44.4bn to N25.5bn, a decrease of more than 42.5 per cent, PUNCH reports.

The BHCPF is made up of one per cent of the Federal Government Consolidated Revenue from international partners such as the World Bank, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development.

The Universal Basic Education fund was also reduced significantly from N111.7bn to N51.1bn, by more than 54.2 per cent, according to documents obtained by Dataphyte, an open data organisation.

The UBE is a reform programme aimed at providing greater access to quality basic education throughout Nigeria.

It seeks to ensure an uninterrupted access to nine-year formal education by providing free, and compulsory basic education for every child of school-going age.