The Bauchi State House of Assembly has okayed N202,641,558,614.46 for the 2023 2023 Appropriation Bill, an amount which is 2.5% higher than the 2022 Appropriation Law.
According to Daily Independent, the House Committee on Budget and Appropriation on the 2023 proposed budget had earlier presented and adopted the report which was laid before the Assembly by Abdulkadir Umar Dewu, the Committee’s Chairman who is also representing Kirfi Constituency.
Further, the Committee explained that it had obtained the consolidated copies of the 2022 budget performances and revenue profiles which comprised statutory allocations, Value Added Tax (VAT,) capital receipts and internally generated revenue between January and November 2022, from the ministries of Budget and Economic Planning as well as the Finance and Economic Development; for guidance prior to the commencement of 2023 budget defence in respect of Ministries, Departments & Agencies (MDA’s) in the state.
The Committee had also invited various MDAs for budget defence sessions for clarifications on grey areas as well as recommended that the Executive Arm should be urged to establish a Fiscal Responsibility Commission to ensure transparency, probity and accountability in term of management of public funds by all MDAs in the State and considering the technical nature of the 2023 Budget document which is a paradigm shift from the previous approach.
It further recommended that the House should as a matter of urgency organize a series of training and workshops for all the chairmen, members and Secretaries of standing committees to enable them to understand the nitty-gritty of recent development pertaining to the budgetary system.
Having made holistic scrutiny of the entire 2023 proposed budget estimates, the Committee recommend that the House should consider and adopt the total sum of N202,641,558,614.46 only, of which the sum of N87,933,242,963.50 only, is for recurrent expenditure, representing 43% while the sum of N114, 708,315,650.97 only is for capital expenditure representing 57% as 2023 Appropriation Bill.
The House unanimously adopted the recommendations of the Committee while the Majority Leader Hon. Tijjani Muhammad Aliyu requested that the House should allow the Bauchi State 2023 Appropriation Bill to undergo 3rd reading which was seconded by the Minority Leader, Hon. Bakoji Aliyu Bobbo.
Upon approval by the Members, the Speaker directed the Clerk of the House, Umar Yusuf Gital Esq to carry out the 3rd reading.
The Speaker commended the House Committee on Budget and Appropriation under the leadership of Hon. Abdulkadir Umar Dewu representing Kirfi Constituency and all the Standing Committees of the House for doing a remarkable job in scrutinizing and carrying out all legislative processes, thoroughly, within the timeframe given.
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Meanwhile, The Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Tijjani Muhammad Aliyu representing Azare/Madangala Constituency) led a debate on a Bill for a Law to establish Bauchi State Border Communities Development Agency.
He explained that the Bill which is submitted to the House by the Bauchi State Government, when passed into law, will significantly improve the lives of citizens of Bauchi State living at the border areas of the State.
The Majority Leader stated that Bauchi State shares boundary seven other states including Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Yobe, Plateau, Gombe and Taraba States, thus it’s worth noting that Bauchi State has border disputes/issues with all the States it shares boundaries with, except Kaduna State.
According to him, such disputes are being continuously resolved under the guidance of the National Boundary Commission in conjunction with the State Boundary Committees in all the States and it is worth noting that there exists at the national level, a National Border Areas Development Commission which is essentially aimed at developing the international border areas and give assistance to the Subnational Borders Development Agencies where they exist.
