Farmers, Traders Depend On 2014 Budget To Survive–FG

The Federal Government, through the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, disclosed that traders, farmers and other artisans in the country depend on the passage of the 2014 Appropriation Bill to survive.

Addressing State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Maku said the directive by leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to its members at the National Assembly to block the passage of the Bill was “not the right thing to do” urging them “to think again” about it.

He noted that, “when you block the budget of a country, you are stopping the work of the market woman, you are stopping the work of the farmer, you are threatening the survival of the teacher, you are threatening the survival of a patient in the hospital because a lot of what happens to these people depends on the budget.”

Maku described the budget as an oxygen, needed by a nation, to keep the economy going smoothly.

The Minister, who showed total displeasure at the directive, explained that the opposition party can challenged government’s policies, but not holding the country to ransom.

“Challenging our policies is different from blocking the oxygen from flowing because the budget is the oxygen of the economy. So are you asking people to commit suicide because you have disagreement with the government?” he queried.