By Laleye Dipo in Minna
Niger State House of Assembly has passed the 2019 budget presented to the legislature on November 6 this year by Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, increasing the total fiscal estimates by N4 billion to bring the overall size of the budget to N164.458 billion.
The budget was passed after the legislators received and considered the report of its Committee on Appropriation.
As a result, the budget has now made provision of N65.413 billion for recurrent expenditure and N99.037 billion for capital expenditure.
Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Alhaji Muhammed Lokogoma, while submitting the report for the House consideration, said the budget was jerked up because of anticipated increase in internally generated revenue because of “the reforms going on in the Board of Internal Revenue Service particularly the recovery of the PAYEE from FCT staff resident in Niger State and the expected legislation on the review of obsolete taxes and levies.”
Lokogoma said the budget was calculated on the projection of sale of 2 million barrels of crude oil per day at $55 per barrel.
He however said that the committee could not accommodate the requests for increase in their budgets by some ministries, departments and government agencies because of “inadequate funds to entertain such increase.
“However, adjustments were made in some areas that are considered critical with the belief of sourcing for more revenues to finance them”.
When the report was put to the committee of the whole house it was unanimously passed.
The Speaker, Alhaji Ahmed Marafa Guni, commended the committee for doing “a nice job” and pleaded with the executive to ensure strict implementation of the budget.
