Coronavirus Outbreak Has Affected Our Revenue – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari says the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) has adversely affected the country’s main revenue.

The president said this when workers in the health sector under the aegis of Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and Assembly Healthcare Professionals Associations (AHPA) paid him a courtesy call at the State House, Abuja.

The Federal Government had announced the possibility of an impending plan to reduce the N10.6tn 2020 National Budget, following the impact of the outbreak of Coronavirus on the global crude oil price on Monday.

Buhari while addressing members of JOHESU and AHPA, appealed to workers in the health sector to bear with the administration in their demands as it braced up for the challenges posed by coronavirus to the economy.

He said in a statement by his media aide, Garba Shehu, “Your case is certainly receiving attention, but you must bear in mind the condition that the country is in now. Coronavirus is not improving matters. It is affecting what we very much depend on, the petroleum industry and therefore revenue.”

“So, please try and help us with your people. Let us be patriotic, let us look at the ways and means of the government and appeal for restrain…We have to emphasize that it is very important we maintain cohesion together, because if we allow sentiments or popularity to overwhelm our reasoning faculties, we will be in trouble and it will be too late for us to adjust, so please bear with us,” he said.

“We thank God. God is very sympathetic to us. The three previous rainy seasons were good. We had good foresight in getting fertiliser, making it available and we virtually achieved food security. We made good decisions, and we saved hundreds of millions of dollars on importation of food. If not, we would have been in real trouble,” he added.