A federal lawmaker representing Kaduna North Federal Constituency, Bello El-Rufai, has criticised Ministries, Departments, and Agencies for consistently refusing to cut down on their budgets, accusing them of spending public funds on frivolous items.
In a viral video obtained by Akelicious online on Friday, Bello El-Rufai, the son of the former Governor, Kaduna State, Nasir EL-Rufai, urged the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, to prioritise reducing the budgets of MDAs, noting that Nigerians are increasingly concerned about the yearly rise in government spending.
“Nigerians are tired of every agency buying forks and knives every year; we should show them we are serious and make these drastic cuts,” he said.
He added, “We need to cut down on costs. The recurrent expenditure issue exists in every budget. Even as a young person like myself, I see that we budget for vehicles every year, utensils every year. To open more revenue streams or block loopholes, we need to scrutinise these ministries’ budgets. If they bought vehicles last year, they should hold off because vehicles do not expire.
“These are the little things, Mr Speaker, that unless we start addressing, the loopholes will continue to grow.
“Since I was a boy, every year’s budget includes new computers and furniture, yet these items do not expire. We should cut them out entirely. We cannot implement a tax reform bill to strengthen the fiscal position of this country while, as leaders, we fail to cut costs.”
