Kaduna gov signs N214bn budget into law …Zamfara presents N107bn budget proposal for 2017

Governor Nasir  el-Rufai of Kaduna State has signed the 2017 budget of N214billion into law even as he said the state government will use the 50 per cent of the  Paris Club refund to settle the six years  pension arrears of retired civil servants.

The 2017 budget size is N214.9billion, made up of N83.46billion in recurrent spending and N131.45billion in capital expenditure:

The governor, while signing the  appropriation bill into law at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House, Kaduna ,onTuesday, also announced that the state has received  the Paris Club refund from the Federal Government, which he said, would be used to clear six years’ pension arrears in the state.

“I wish to inform our legislators that we shall be submitting a supplementary budget to enable us capture the debt refunds we have just received from the Federal Government. About 55per cent of these funds belong to the state government and the balance is for the local governments.

‘We propose to apply 50per cent  of the funds to settling the inherited arrears of gratuity and death benefits for the  state and local government workers.  Mr Dan Ndackson, the executive secretary of the Bureau of Pension, has done a great job of sorting out these records.

He said the budget was deliberately skewed, rising from N172billion approved for 2016 because “we need to increase spending in a recession.”

In  2017 budget, the governor  retained the pro-poor programmes, which his administration was committed to,     which include improving access to education, healthcare delivery, infrastructure, jobs as well as security.

“It puts the needs and interest of our people first. In 2017, Kaduna State will spend N44.84billion on education; N10.49billion on health; N24.50billion on infrastructure and N8.1billion on water, while agriculture will get N4.58billion,” he said.

Earlier, the speaker, Kaduna State House of Assembly, Honourable.Aminu Abdullahi Shagali, had said the 2017 budget will have smooth implementation by the executive.

…Zamfara presents N107bn budget proposal for 2017

Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State has presented a budget proposal of N107billion before the State House of Assembly.

Presenting the budget he christened budget of ‘Social and economic reconstruction’, on Tuesday, the governor said that the state government only recorded  46 per cent success in 2016.

He attributed the poor performance of the budget to recession and security challenges facing the state.

Yari, nonetheless, said the state government was able to  execute some development programmes that have direct bearings on the people .

Commenting on the budget proposal, the governor said there was an increase of N6.7billion in the proposed budget  of 2017 against 2016

He said in  the 2017 budget proposal, an estimate budget of N107 billion,  was presented and designed to consolidate on the ongoing programmes of his administration.

Out of which he said, N37billion would be spent on recurrent expenditure, while N70billion would be spent on capital expenditure.

Responding, the speaker of the House,  Sanusi Garba Rikiji,  commended the efforts of the state government in taken care of the families of those who lost their lives and property in  recent  attacks in the state.