BETA EDU: N532.5 BILLION WON’T BE SUFFICIENT TO ERADICATE POVERTY IN NIGERIA.

The N532.5 billion allotted to Beta Edu’s ministry in the 2024 budget, the minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, has stated that this amount will not be sufficient to end poverty in the nation.

When Edu stood before the Joint National Assembly Committee on Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation on Tuesday, December 12, to defend her 2024 budget, she stated as much.

The minister claims that in order to offset the effects of inflation, her ministry was granted an overhead ceiling of N532.5 billion, or a 28% increase above the 2023 budget.

On the other hand, a 71% decrease in the capital budget maximum was made, going from N3.7 billion in 2022 to N1.328316 billion in 2023. Thus, there was a 71% decrease in 2022 and 2023.

The meager capital ceiling of N1.535 billion, which is an increase over the current year’s budget, does not, however, in any way align with the ministry’s headquarters’ mission to reduce poverty in Nigeria.