.Decries zero allocation to Poverty Eradication Trust Fund

Budgetary allocation to Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation ministry in the 2024 budget is not capable of fighting poverty in the country, the Minister in charge of the ministry, Dr Beta Edu, has said.

The minister spoke when she led officials of her ministry to defend her 2024 budget  before the Joint National Assembly committee on Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, chaired by Senator Idiat Adebule.

According to her, the ministry was given an overhead ceiling of N532.5 billion, which represents 28 per cent increase over the 2023 budget to cushion the effects of inflation.

She said it was pertinent to note that the 28 per cent increase in the overhead ceiling does not tally with the 27.33 per cent inflationary rate in the economy today.

On the other hand, she said the capital budget ceiling was reduced from N3.7bn in 2022 to N1.32 billion in 2023 and it represents 71 per cent reduction.

She said, “However, the pittance capital ceiling of N1.53 billion, which is an increase from the current year’s budget does not in any way match with the mandate of the ministry’s headquarters in order to shrink poverty in Nigeria.”

She pleaded with the committee chairman and members to intervene in the matter in the interest of poor Nigerians, saying: “The burden lies on us to actually tackle the issue of poverty with sincerity. One thing you can take from myself and my team working under the guardian of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is that he truly wants Nigerians to be out of poverty.

“Except the budget is appropriated for it, we would be completely unable to meet that mandate.”

The Chairman of the Committee, Adebule, asked whether the minister presented the budget for the Trust Fund at the budget during the planning stage.

Edu said it was presented to the Ministry of Budget but it was not reflected in what her ministry later got.

The Minister said: “This was clearly stated as an omission and that is why we asked that you bring it in as a memo to the committee to see how they can consider it.”

The committee members asked whether she has the memo, and Beta responded in the affirmative.

Edu said she was with the Budget Minister and that she engaged him and also the budget office.