The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, expressed concerns on Tuesday, citing the insufficiency of the 2024 budget allocation for her ministry in addressing the country’s poverty challenges.
Addressing the National Assembly Joint Committee on Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Edu highlighted the limitations of the proposed budget, emphasizing that the overhead ceiling of N532.5 billion, while a 28% increase from the 2023 budget, fails to effectively counter the current 27.33% inflation rate.
She pointed out that the capital budget had plummeted significantly from N3.7 billion in 2022 to N1.3 billion in 2023, representing a drastic 71% reduction.
The subsequent marginal increase to N1.5 billion in 2024, she argued, doesn’t align with the ministry’s ambitious mandate to alleviate poverty in Nigeria.
Edu appealed earnestly to the committee, stressing the vital role in sincerely tackling poverty in the nation, drawing attention to the incongruity between the budget allocation and the magnitude of the task ahead.
“It is pertinent to note that the 28 per cent increase in the overhead ceiling is not commensurate to the 27.33 per cent inflationary rate in the economy today.
“Conversely, the capital budget ceiling was reduced from N3.7 billion in 2022 to N1.3 billion in 2023 and this represents a 71 per cent reduction.
“However, the pittance capital ceiling of N1.5 billion, an increase from the current year’s budget, does not in any way match the mandate of the ministry to shrink poverty in Nigeria,” Edu is quoted to have said by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
She highlighted President Bola Tinubu’s earnest commitment to eradicating poverty while underscoring the pressing need for a substantial budgetary increase to effectively fulfill the ministry’s mandate.
Additionally, Edu outlined plans for special projects and the recently approved creation of the Humanitarian and Poverty Eradication Trust Fund, designed to receive contributions from the government, donor agencies, development partners, the private sector, and other innovative resource mobilization strategies.
She implored the committee for support in securing appropriate budgetary provisions to enable the ministry to address the pressing challenges of poverty effectively.
Committee Chairman Idiat Adebule assured that the committee would meticulously examine the budget estimates to address the critical concerns raised by the Minister and ensure impactful solutions to combat poverty.
