BUSINESS Budget: PENGASSAN kicks against oil assets sale
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has cautioned the Federal Government against selling profitable oil and gas assets to fund the 2018 budget.
Reacting to a recent Daily Trust report which quoted a senior government source as saying that there were plans by government to sell some oil and gas assets to fund the budget, PENGASSAN National spokesman, Comrade Fortune Obi, noted that the idea was rejected by majority of Nigerians when it was first mooted in 2016.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday while presenting the 2018 budget at the National Assembly, also confirmed plans by government to generate some revenues from the sale of oil assets. Comrade Obi described selling national assets in the oil and gas industry to fund the budget as handing over our collective common wealth to a few individuals and further impoverishing majority of Nigerians.
Meanwhile, the 2018 Federal budget proposal of N8.61 trillion, submitted to the National Assembly yesterday by President Buhari portends well for the country, especially in the key areas of economic growth and development if implemented diligently.
An economist and banker, Alhaji Kassim Musa Bichi, said “The budget holds good promise for delivering increased and improved general welfare to Nigerians.
“It contains good programmes and projects that will definitely impact positively on social and economic activities, create wealth and bring prosperity across the nation.” FLIGHT
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