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From John Adams/Beatrice John, Minna
The Niger State Governor, Umar Mohammed Bago, has presented a budget estimate of N613.2 billion billion to the state house of assembly for consideration for the 2024 fiscal years.
The budget is made up of N149.2billion as recurrent expenditure, representing 24.3 percent and N446billion as capital expenditure representing 75.6 percent.
This figure is higher than the 2023 Budget estimate of N238.9billion presented by his predecessor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello.
Presenting the budget before the state house of assembly in Minna on Tuesday, the Governor said the 2024 budget proposal is a pivotal roadmap toward the state shared vision for a prosperous future for the state.
The budget which the governor said it is “the budget of the future” will not only addresses the immediate needs of the state but will also serve as the road-map for a visionary twenty-year journey embodied in Niger State Future Initiative.
Bago disclosed that the 2024 budget will be financed through Recurrent Revenue of N298,0billion which is made up of Statutory Allocation of N155.9billon, Value Added Tax of N50.6billion, Internally Generated Revenue of N61.8 billion.
Other source of funding the budget also include Excess Crude/Other Revenue of N9.5billion, expected refund from SURE-P of N20 billion.
He pointed further that “The Budget is also to be financed by Capital Receipts of N315,322,146,178.00 which is made up of N256,459,074,825.00 and N58,763,071,353.00 as loans and grants respectively.”
The governor pointed out that in pursuit of his administration’s transformation agenda into building a New and sustainable Niger, the 2024 Budget will focus on the some priority areas which he said includes, Urban Renewal and Rural Transformation, Security of Lives and Property, Infrastructural Development.
Others he stated further includes Agriculture and Food Security, Education, Health; Water and Sanitation, Women and Children, Environmental Sustainability and People with Special Needs and Elderly Care.
“The 2024 Budget will also focus on self-sufficiency through intensive internal revenue generation by exploring all available sources, blocking leakages and all revenue-generating MDAs to account for all revenue receipts.”
To achieve this the governor ordered the immediate suspension of the hitherto practice of “generate and utilise” by all MDAs including tertiary institutions, stressing that “Mechanisms for the operation of this directive are being worked out as we diversify the State revenue base.”
He therefore used the occasion of the budget presentation to highlight the achievements of his administration since may 29, adding that “we embarked on transformation efforts for a New and Sustainable Niger to change the negative narratives and improve the quality of lives of citizens of the state.
We thus embarked on the following: “The Groundbreaking of urban renewal projects in Minna and the Ring Road Project in Bida, Payment of 20% subsidy on 100 No trucks of fertilisers, Payment of counter-parts arrears to Donor Supported Projects in the State (such as ATAPS, NG-CARES, Value Chain Development, FADAMA, AGILE, Acresal Projects and others), Support to dry season farmers for the cultivation of 4,000 hectares of land, Procurement of 200 units of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Buses for ease of transportation, Repairs and fixing of 33no existing NSTA buses, among others.
The Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Rt Hon Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, assured the governor that in the 2024 fiscal year, the 10th assembly intensify on it’s oversight on Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) to ensure value for every fund that is appropriated, high level compliance with budgetary provisions and implementation of programmes.
According to the speaker “we are interested in the success of this budget and as partners in progress, we will doggedly play our role using all legislative instruments at our disposal”.
He urged the governor to as a matter of necessity, direct his commissioners, permanent secretaries and head of agencies to ensure they appear before the house standing committee as and when scheduled.
