By Segun Awofadeji
Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed has signed the 2021 budget estimate of N213, 914, 559,427 for the 2021 fiscal year into law.
While signing the appropriation bill into law, at Government House, Bauchi Tuesday night, the Governor thanked members of the State House of Assembly for working round the clock and in synergy with the state executive council to complete work on the budget within 10 days.
Mohammed, said by working for the common goal of serving the people collectively with the State Assembly dominated by the opposition, Bauchi has set the pace for politics.
According to him, “I am always grateful to Allah for giving me the kind of State Assembly members who have recognised that we are guided by the fear of Allah and by one common thing, which is Bauchi project, the people who voted us into power.”
The Governor expressed delight that there were little changes in the budget as submitted to the State Assembly, saying that, “what they did is what I would have even done to expand provision of projects and programs across the local councils and all the villages and towns so that there will be equity and justice.”
Tagged, the, ‘Budget of Consolidation’, the Governor said the 2021 budget is larger than that of last year.
He said the government was looking at the basic outcome of the budget to make sure that every sector is affected positively, adding that the people of Bauchi deserves better treatment, hence government’s decision to introduce Bauchi urban renewal project to upgrade the state capital.
He said education and health sector was also given the required attention because they are the sectors that will improve the state’s human capital.
Bala said the state government was also investing in agriculture, water supply, youth and women empowerment, adding that rural roads were being opened up by making sure that connectivity is created between the rural markets and the urban centers.
Bala, while responding to the observation made by the State Assembly on the need to tighten up its belt by increasing the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), appreciated them for looking at the issue.
Earlier, the Speaker of the Assembly, Hon Abubakar Sulaiman recalled that the 2021 budget proposal was presented to the house by the Governor on December 15, 2020 for consideration.
He said out of the total budget, N93,994,971,685, representing 43 percent goes to recurrent expenditure.
The speaker further explained that capital expenditure took 57 per cent of the budget, amounting to N120, 919,587,773.
The speaker who said the House of Assembly had upon receipt of the budget bill suspended all other activities and work round the clock to complete the work on it within a short Period of time.
Abubakar said the timely passage of the budget by the House was not unconnected to the commitments of the members, patriotism, mutual cooperation and the good working relationship that exist between the executive and the legislature.
