…says President’s foreign trips’ll benefit Nigerians, attract investments
Prominent political economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari will justify the over N2.5billion allocated in the 2018 Appropriation Bill for his travel and car maintenance expenses.
Utomi argued that the dividends and fruits that would be reaped from Buhari’s foreign trips and travels next year would be enormous and beneficial to all Nigerians.
He, therefore, urged Nigerians not to make any issue out of the proposed budgetary allocation for the President’s travels next year as the country stood to gain a lot from such an investment.
Reports have it that over N2.5billion is budgeted to be spent by the President in 2018 on cars and travels.
This huge amount allocated to the President’s travels has, however, continued to generate controversies among stakeholders in the country.
But Utomi, who is an economic expert, called on all and sundry not to continue to criticise the President on this budgetary allocation , saying that he was confident that the Buhari administration would justify such expenses.
He said, “I don’t think that amount that is being reported should fuel any issue. The President will definitely justify it himself by the time we all see a lot of investors that will be brought in by him.
“What people are talking about is just a number. What people should be concerned about is result from the President’s trips. They should be inquisitive about the investors and other opportunities the President will be able to attract into the country with the money.
“So, I don’t want people to think that their money is being wasted by the President. As we all know, he is a man that detests corruption, and I don’t see him spending Nigerians’ money anyhow.”
