2018 Budget: Oyegun appeals to Nigerians to be patient with government

The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress(APC), Mr John Oyegun has called on Nigerians to be patient with the present administration while it works to reposition the economy.

The chairman was reacting to the 2018 Budget Proposal presentation by President Muhammadu Buhari before the Joint Session of the National Assembly on Tuesday.

He said the Federal Government was doing its best to rebuild an economy that was near collapse before the assumption of office of the present administration.

While expressing optimism that the 2018 budget would cater to the needs of Nigerians, he said the process of rebuilding an economy often came with some form of hardship.

Oyegun, however, assured Nigerians that the period of hardship would be over and everyone would be better for it.

“The 2018 budget proposal presented by President Muhammadu Buhari was well received, we are all happy.

“The side attraction is that the President has demonstrated his determination to move the country forward.

“We are rebuilding the nation’s economy. The economy collapsed, oil price collapsed, everything is as if it is starting afresh. It takes time and it creates a lot of hardship

“We are appealing to Nigerians to be patient because at the end of the day we are going to have a country we will be proud of and an economy that will offer all Nigerians the opportunity to grow.

President Muhammadu Buhari had, while presenting the 2018 budget proposal, tagged “Budget of Consolidation’’, said the principal objective of the budget would be to reinforce and build on recent accomplishments.

He said the present government would sustain the reflationary policies of 2016 and 2017 budgets.

He said the key parameters and assumptions for the 2018 Budget were set out in the 2018-2020 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).

These parameters, he added included an oil price benchmark of 45 dollar per barrel, oil production estimate of 2.3 million barrels per day, including condensates and exchange rate of N305 per dollar for 2018.

Others according to him are real GDP growth of 3.5 per cent; and inflation rate of 12.4 per cent.