Former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, has cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari to reduce the extravagant lifestyle of his administration if Nigeria is to survive the current recession.

In a series of tweets on Sunday, Mr. Abubakar warned that the current opulence being exhibited by the government will drive the country into a broken nation.

“For a start, the proposed 2021 budget presented to the National Assembly on Tuesday, October 8, 2020, is no longer tenable,” Mr.Abubakar tweeted. “Nigeria neither has the resources nor the need to implement such a luxury heavy budget. The nation is broke, but not broken. However, if we continue to spend lavishly, even when we do not earn commensurately, we would go from being a broke nation to being a broken nation.”

Mr. Abubakar advised the Buhari administration to pay attention to essentials, such as increased wages, infrastructure, education and health.

The World Bank and the National Bureau of Statistics in separate reports declared a fall in the country’s GDP by 3.62 percent in the third quarter of 2020 while 6.10 percent decline was recorded in the second quarter.

This was termed the worst recession in 36 years.

The 2021 national budget presented to the National Assembly was pegged at N13.08 trillion with expected revenue of N7.89 trillion and a deficit of N5.20 trillion.