The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for proposing a N500 billion social welfare package targeting students, youth corps members and the vulnerable in society in the 2016 budget estimates.
The president on Tuesday submitted a three-year fiscal policy agenda, the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) to the Senate in which he proposed a budget of N6.04 trillion for the 2016 fiscal year to be driven by an oil price benchmark of $38/barrel.
In a statement issued by its Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, on Wednesday, MURIC said the President Buhari’s “bold welfare programme” is unprecedented in the history of Nigeria.
“This is a real dividend of democracy for the man in the street. With this initiative, Nigeria is well on the way to rubbing shoulders with the big democracies of the world. We urge the National Assembly to embrace the initiative without any hesitation and to give it a speedy approval.
“We charge opposition parties to avoid politicizing this package. Unlike the seasonal stomach infrastructure, this programme is capable of encouraging small scale entrepreneurship thereby reducing poverty among Nigerians. It is indeed a budget of hope”, Akintola said.
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