The member representing Esan North-East/South-East Federal Constituency of Edo State in the House of Representatives, Barr. Sergius Ogun, has described as unrealistic, the campaign promise made by the governing All Progressives Congress to pay a monthly stipend of N5, 000 to unemployed youths and the vulnerable in the country.
The PDP lawmaker said going by the current economic realities on ground, the plan cannot be implemented.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja at the weekend, Hon. Ogun advised that if the Federal Government can find a means to pay the amount to unemployed graduates in the country, it should rather channel it to agriculture to create more jobs.
“When I multiplied 25 million people, unemployed young people by N5, 000, the money ran into billions and I was asking myself that if we don’t have enough money to fund our budget, so where are we going to get money to fund it (N5, 000 promise)?
“Are we trying to imitate Europe or even the western world? They have a system in Europe to check fraudsters and I am sorry to say this, the people that destroyed the system in Europe are Nigerians, people from the third world”, Ogun said.
According to him, there are other policies the Federal Government can implement to tackle unemployment in the country rather than promising the sum of N5, 000 allowance to unemployed youths as a form of social security.
“So, I don’t think it is a policy that we should pursue, I don’t think we can afford it and even if I can see the beginning, I don’t see the termination date. But I do wish the government well”, he added.
Rep. Ogun also weighed in on the controversy surrounding the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), saying: “The TSA was a laudable attempt to curb leakages and as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution as amended, Section 162 says that clearly that all funds must go to the Federation Account”.
