Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
Governor of Kaduna, Nasir el Rufai, has signed the 2020 budget of N259.25 billion into law.
Deputy Governor, Hadiza Balarabe, had submitted the draft budget of N257.9 billion to the state assembly on October 15 but it was later increased to N259.25 billion.
El-Rufai said N184.1bn (71%) was earmarked for capital expenditure while N75.14 billion is for recurrent expenditure.
Capital expenditure on education and health constitute N75.44 billion of the entire N184.1billion capital budget, while capital spending on infrastructure and housing will take N68.5bn
The governor described the budget as “reinforcing the government’s governance agenda to build human capital and promote equal opportunity.”
He said his administration has successfully aligned the fiscal and calendar years in the state for five consecutive years. The governor commended the state house of assembly for cooperating with the executive arm of government to realise the administration’s policies and programmes.
He described the assembly as “the most productive in the history of the state”, saying that they had passed over 80 bills into law.
He also commended Aminu Shagali, speaker of the house, for working across party lines to improve the fortunes of the state.
He also thanked the deputy governor for working tirelessly to produce the draft budget estimates and for presenting the document to the assembly.
Meanwhile, Borno Governor, Babagana Zulum has presented N134.5 billion budget proposal for the 2020 fiscal year, the first since he assumed the leadership of the state. Zulum while presenting the budget proposal to the State Assembly on Monday said the N134. 5 billion appropriation for next year dropped slightly from the 2019 budget of N144. 74 billion. This represents about 7.5 percent drop from the 2020 proposal.
He said the appropriation and financial bill tagged Budget of Recovery and Stabilisation includes recurrent expenditure of N67.54 billion, about 50.4 percent of the total budget while capital expenditure stands at N66.96 billion, 49.7 percent of the budget.
He said the budget will be tailored toward “effective and efficient delivery” of his point agenda which include recovery of the agricultural sector, health care, security and humanitarian issues, rehabilitation and reconstruction among others.
The objective of rejuvenating the economy and restoring dignity of labour were to rekindle hope and strengthen resilience of people affected by decade long Boko Haram insurgency,” the governor said.
Environmental protection got the biggest part of the budget with about N17. 64 billion in the sectoral allocations. It was followed by housing and community amenities with N13.4 billion, education got N10. 2 billion while economic empowerment through agriculture took N7. 64 billion.