Bauchi State Government has slashed its 2020 approved budget from N167b to N128b by cutting out all unnecessary expenditure and increasing allocation to public health issues to take care of COVID-19 pandemic.
The development was announced by the Commissioner of Budget and Economic Planning, Dr Aminu Hassan Gamawa shortly after the weekly State Executive Council (SEC) meeting held on Wednesday at the Government House saying that the development was necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He explained that with the fall in the price of crude oil on which the 2020 budget was initially based, the government has to look inward and see how it can keep the act of governance moving and service delivery to the people.
ALSO READ: Fayemi’s wife seeks LG chairmen’s support to end gender-based violence
He said that the new proposal will be sent to the State House of Assembly for approval after which the Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir will accent to it to become a law and a legal framework for the state.
The Commissioner added that with the development, the government will only embark on projects that can be afforded because according to him the way the administration designed its programs, there is no reason for abandoning any project.
On the issue of the new minimum wage, the Commissioner explained that the status quo remains the same until a decision is taken on it by the government assuring that government will never abdicate its responsibility of payment of salaries and entitlements of civil servants as at when due.
Aminu Hassan Gamawa then appealed to people to support the administration in its resolve to move the state forward positively from how it met it on May 29th, 2019 assuring that at end of its tenure the people will have positive stories about the administration.
and then