2024 Budget: N15bn NASS Hospital Allocation More Than 6 Major Teaching Hospitals – Obi
The national leader of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi has unearthed another flaw in the 2024 Appropriation Bill passed by the National Assembly, noting that “there are items in the budget that do not align with our current circumstances.”
Obi in a statement posted on his X platform on Tuesday, observed the sum of N15 billion allocated for the National Assembly hospital in the budget is five times more than the budgetary allocation to the National Hospital, or the combined capital vote of six major teaching hospitals across the country.
“This disparity reflects a low level of care for the rest of society,” he said.
The former presidential candidate, also faulted the N15.3 billion allocated for the National Assembly library project and procurement of books, including the e-Library.
Obi noted that the nation’s National Library has been under construction for the past 20 years, with a budgetary allocation of less than N1 billion in this year’s budget.
This, he added, means that the National Assembly Library budget is 15 times more than that of the National Library.
He further observed that “the National Assembly Library budget is more than the combined budget of the top national universities’ libraries that desperately need the Libraries for research, teaching and learning purposes.”
He described it as a “lack of foresight and basic awareness of global trends and urgent national priorities,” the N10 billion allocated to the Senate and House of Representatives car parks and the National Assembly Recreation Centre while allocating less to the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation.
“This level of insensitivity to the present situation and challenges faced by the people should not be tolerated by any development-minded nation.
“Every scarce resource must be directed towards productive sectors of the economy.
“It is time for our nation to reassess its priorities, revisit the budget, eliminate frivolous expenditures and channel our resources properly for the benefit of the people.
“No great nation is built on a foundation of waste and frivolity,” he warned.
