Governor Nasir
el-Rufai of Kaduna State, on Wednesday became the first of his colleagues to
present the spending plan for the 2017 fiscal year, with a proposal of N215.921
billion, broken down into N130.349 billion, or 60.36 per cent in capital
expenditure and N85.572 billion or 39.63 per cent recurrent expenditure.
Presenting the
Appropriation Bill which is larger than the N189.9 billion initially planned,
to the State House of Assembly, he expressed gratitude to the state
“legislature for (its) enduring partnership all for the larger interest of the
people” over the past 17 months.
He praised the
lawmakers for their thoroughness, because of which the 2016 budget was signed
into law by 22 December, 2015, assuring that the state has since
institutionalised a system that aligns the fiscal year with the calendar year.
The current
administration, he continued, will continue to play its role as a catalyst of
development, and an enabler of private enterprise, assuring that in the 2017
fiscal year, Kaduna will spend more on the social sector and expansion of
economic openings, as part of “mounting a concerted assault on the causes of
poverty by providing the poor a substantive ladder to a better life.”
He also spoke of
plans to “eliminate wastages and other unjustifiable expenditure that are not
clearly linked to policy objectives,” in this challenging period when many
states are unable to pay workers’ salaries.
“Kaduna has been
spared the worst of this fiscal crisis due to our early efforts to curtail
waste and fraud using the TSA (Treasury Single Account).”
Also, he said
Kaduna is working hard to grow its Internally Generated Revenue to become less
dependent on federal allocations, with the state, for the first time in its
history raking in N1.6 billion in June 2016.
As a follow up to
this resolve, the governor said “in 2017, all MDAs (Ministries, Departments and
Agencies) overheads will be linked to their revenue performance.”
On the school
feeding programme of the Federal Government, he said Kaduna agreed to serve as
one of the states for the pilot programme, just as it has so far spent N6
billion on renovation of over 400 schools to improve the educational system of
the state, expressing commitment to renovate all of its 4,265 schools
In the area of
health, el-Rufai said contract papers have been signed with General Electric
for the modernisation of 255 primary health centres (one in each ward), in
addition to making anti-malarial drugs free for all citizens starting from
Monday, in response to the recent malaria epidemic. There are plans also for
the Ministry of Health to fumigate parts of the state where the epidemic
appears most prevalent to improve preventive care, he assured.
He said dualisation
of roads in some areas of the state were delayed to conclude payment of
compensation before commencing work, including the ongoing Kawo- Lugard Hall
Road project which was inherited.
“We renegotiated
the contract and saved N1.1 billion on the cost. We have so far settled many
outstanding inherited liabilities to contractors so as to save them from
strangulation. We are committed to repaying over N3billion in inherited
liabilities before the end of the year 2016,” he assured.
The 2016 Budget, he
continued, “has been a learning experience for us. Its implementation was impacted
by some challenges, including low revenues.
“Also, the economic
recession and procurement delays from some of our ministries, departments and
agencies are lessons for us.
“The capital budget
utilisation has been the highest in the state for years, but we expected to hit
higher figures,” he said, adding that the 2017 budget will leverage on N800
billion in Public-Private sector Partnership (PPP) funding between 2016 and
2020; just as it would expand the state’s revenue base by exploring untapped
sources to improve economic growth through investment in infrastructure.
The governor
lamented a situation where “Kaduna State has about five per cent of the
country’s population, but it contributes only about 2.3 per cent of its GDP.”
He restated his
commitment to doing everything to create jobs, bring development and ensure
equity, just as he urged residents of Kaduna State to renew their commitment to
peace and harmony, because “we cannot create opportunities for citizens and
develop the state in an atmosphere without concord and trust.
“We will be strong
with law enforcement and unrelenting support for our security agencies to make
every part of Kaduna safe. We are comfortable that this honorable house will
record another 1st by expeditiously passing d draft appropriation bill into
law.”
Source: Independentnig.com
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