Ekiti, Kano Present Budget To Assembly

By Ayodele Oni

Ekiti and Kano States on Thursday presented their 2022 budget to the Houses of Assembly.

While Ekiti proposed to spend  N100.7bn in 2022, Kano laid before the Assembly N196 billion estimate.

The Ekiti budget, christened “Budget of Legacy and Consolidation” was presented by Governor Kayode Fayemi in Ado Ekiti.

The budget is made up of N60.686bn recurrent expenditure and N40.067 capital estimates making a ratio reflection of 60:40 of recurrent to capital expenditures.

Dr Fayemi disclosed that the major objective of the budget was to ensure that all ongoing legacy projects including the State Cargo airport and the new Ado-Iyin road and other new road projects were completed to consolidate his administration’s plan to transform the state.

He added that the budget was designed to reduce unemployment, attract more investors, ensure smooth transition to the in-coming administration, increase the state’s internal generated revenue, improve security architectures, contain the spread of covid-19 third wave and reduce its negative impact on the livelihood of the people, among others.

“Rt. Hon. Speaker Sir, Honourable Members, Ladies and Gentlemen, may I state that 2022 fiscal year is a watershed in the life of this administration on one hand, and in Ekiti State in general.

“It is a year of transition to a new administration. To this end, the primary objective of the 2022 Budget is to complete and consolidate on our numerous achievements and prepare a solid economic foundation for the in-coming administration.

“Therefore, only critical projects and programmes of short-term completion that will boost the economy of the State through attraction of more investors and mitigate against the risk of climate change have been considered in the 2022 Budget.”

A breakdown of the budget indicates that governance takes the largest chunk of N36.716bn representing 36 per cent, followed by Infrastructure and Industrial Development which take N28.056bn representing 28 percent.

Others are Knowledge Economy N19.716bn representing 20 per cent, Social investment takes N14.063bn representing 14 per cent while Agriculture and rural development takes N2.201bn representing 2 per cent.

While addressing the Lawmakers, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano state proposed Budget of N196 billion for 2022 fiscal year to the State Assembly.

Tagged ‘Budget of Prosperity and Consolidation’ it has over N107 billion representing 55% as capital Expenditure,while the sum of over N88 billion  representing 45% was meant for recurrent expenditure.

According to the Governor, education being one of the top priority of his administration received the highest Allocation of over N51 billion, equivalent to 26 percent of the estimate.

The Governor explained that the sum of over N33 billion was earmarked for development and construction of Underpass, Flyover Bridges,and various Road Construction accros the State.

He maintaied that the Sum of over N15 Billion  was set aside for the Health sector, while Agriculture will gulp the sum of N5 billion.

Other sectors that received maximum attention include Enviroment, Commerce, Security, Tourism, Rural Development,water supply , Information and Transport among others.