Sharafadeen Alli, Senator representing Oyo South District at the National Assembly, has said that the 2024 Budget would be more gainful to Nigerians. Alli urged the citizens to continue to support President Bola Tinubu’s administration for progress.
The Senator spoke in a statement made available to journalists on Friday in Ibadan by his Special Adviser on Media, Akeem Abas. Alli, while featuring on a programme, ‘The Platform’ anchored by Akeem Kareem on Success 105.3 FM in Ibadan, on Thursday aired his views.
According to the statement, Senator Alli who is Committee Chairman on Electoral Matters at the National Assembly, said that the president would leave no stone unturned to return Nigeria to economic prosperity.
The statement by the Senator read, “The 2024 Budget is different from 2023 budget. We’ve been running a deficit budget for several years. The reality today is that the percentage of deficit is less than what it used to be.
“Today, we have more money to conserve as a result of improvement in revenue generation. President Tinubu is doing very well. May God bless him and give him good health. “We are going to get there. It may not be really visible, but there have been lots of improvement. You can also see that those taking billions are not being spared.”
On the distribution of cash to the vulnerable, the statement quoted Alli as saying that “I am a Nigerian and I know that things are very hard today. The hardship is temporary and will soon be over. It is just like pouring iodine on a sour. At first, it will be painful and later, it will dry off. “Giving cash is not the best, but a stop gap. It is better to give it than not doing anything at all.”
The Senator described as untrue the information that all National Assembly members collected bags of rice or hundreds of million naira, saying there was nothing of such. “We have not received any (bag of) rice from the government. We will continue to serve our people diligently as promised during the campaign.”
On his input at the Senate, he said, “I have been involved in some bills and motions, prominent among which was for a befitting burial/Immortalisation of Pa Taiwo Akinkunmi, designer of the national flag.
“I have a private bill on pensioners. What we have on ground today is not in consonance with realities. I already proposed some amendments in the bill.
“I am also much involved in the proposal for the establishment of Federal Medical Centre in Ibarapa. This was the initial proposal of Dr Ajibola Muraina, the former representative of Ibarapa Central/North federal constituency.”
