The legislator believes that Nigeria must borrow its way out of the economic abyss the country has found itself
A member of the House of Representatives, Rep. Ukodhiko Jonathan (PDP, Delta State), has said that for Nigeria to be able to achieve the purpose of the 2024 budget and fund projects, it has to continue borrowing.
Rep. Jonathan made this statement while speaking to journalists shortly after the presentation of the 2024 budget estimates by President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday.
He said: “If you look at the state that Nigeria is in right now, there’s no way we can move forward without borrowing. We have to borrow in order for the government to be able to fund some of the critical projects, So we have to borrow in order for us to achieve the purpose of the budget.”
When asked questions on the various issues plaguing the nation such as continuous borrowing of money to fund projects, lack of implementation of previous budgets, security, amongst others, Ukodhiko called for understanding and patience for the new administration.
“To be honest with you, I believe that the government has the means through which they are going to pay back most of all those debts that we are borrowing. As you know, your children cannot be hungry, then you will say that because you have already gotten some things from somebody that you have not paid, the children will continue to die of hunger, it’s not possible.
“If you watch the government, the government is doing everything possible to touch the lives of the people. Like most of all those supplementary budgets and so on that you are talking about, most of the time, those things, those money we are taking is to do social investment in the lives of the people.”
Speaking on insecurity in the country, he asserted that the government has ensured to priorities adequate security in the country on order for it to grow and develop.
“I believe that with the work that the security agencies are doing and with what the executive and the legislature are coming together to do, they are seeing how to properly reform the security system. And we hope that the security system is going to improve and our people become safer in order to attract foreign investment and also local investment.
“If you watch this government, since they came in, they have been matching their words with action. We believe that, and with our presence right now, we believe that the budget is going to be implemented to the latter and the National Assembly will also make sure that we do our oversight function to make sure that that budget is implemented in order to have an impact on the lives of our people.
“At least we are looking at between 50 to 70 percent implementation of this budget,” he added.
