The Federal Ministry of Education has asked the House of Representatives to add N64 billion to its 2020 budget estimate.

This is as the Minister of State in the ministry, Emeka Nwajuiba, was asked to take a bow and go by the lawmakers.

It was the first time a minister was asked to take a bow and go after his budget presentation by the lawmakers.

None the members of the House Committee on Basic Education asked Nwajuiba or his directors any question on the budget performance for 2019 or the estimate for 2020.

“In the spirit of esprit de corps, the minister should take a bow and go. Thereafter, he should discuss with the chairman, in line with our legislative agenda.

“He was not only part of us, he is a man heading a critical sector. The chairman should work with the Senate counterpart to ensure that they get what they want,” the committee said.

In presenting the ministry’s budget estimates before the committee, Nwajuiba said the N50.95 billion current envelope to the ministry represents a negative variance of what it got in 2018.

He said: “The ministry is proposing additional disbursement of N64 billion to bring the total allocation to the sector to N114 billion, compared to the N102 billion appropriated in 2018.

“The current envelope of N50.94 billion represents a negative variance of N52 billion to the 2018 Appropriation of N102 billion. I wish to assure the honourable members that if the N114 billion is approved in 2020, meaningful impact will be achieved in all tiers of the education system.”