Vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2019 general elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has advised the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government on measures to take to better the lives of Nigerians at this time of global crisis.

Atiku was reacting to the slash of the 2020 budget by the Federal Government, as announced by the Minister of Finance and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed on Wednesday.

Ahmed spoke in Abuja after a virtual Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting, adding that the government would also be using proceeds from privatization programmes.

The Minister said the Federal Executive Council approved a revised budget of N10.52 trillion slightly down from N10.59 trillion.

Ahmed also disclosed that expenditures relating to COVID-19 not included earlier have now been added.

Reacting to the development, Atiku, a former Vice President, tweeted, “And beyond a budget slash, Nigeria needs a budget realignment, to redirect expenditure away from running a massive bureaucracy, into social development sectors like education, infrastructure, and above all, healthcare.

“We must invest in the goose that lays the golden egg – the Nigerian people.

“These are the types of sacrifices that we need in a time of crisis. We do not need empty gestures that will lead to empty treasuries.”