The Nasarawa State House of Assembly says it will on July 23 pass the state’s revised 2020 budget of N62.96 billion.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Gov. Abdullahi Sule had on July 20 transmitted a revised 2020 budget of N62.96 billion to the assembly for consideration and approval due to the effects of Coronavirus on the economy.
Ibrahim Balarabe-Abdullahi, the Speaker of the House, announced this after the House deliberated on the revised budget report presented b Aliyu Dogara Mohammed, the Chairman, House Committee on Finance and Appropriation during the House Proceedings on Wednesday in Lafia.
Balarabe-Abdullahi said that the passage of the budget tagged:”Budget of Inclusive Development” would enable the State Government to continue to provide the much- needed dividends of democracy to the people of the state.
” The reports on a bill for a law to amend the Nasarawa State 2020 appropriation bill of N62,968,348, 138.00 only for the services of Nasarawa State has been adopted.
” The sum of N31,943,912,285.00.billion only as recurrent expenditure
while N26,465,632,374.00 billion only as Capital expenditure and the consolidated revenue fund charges is N4,558,803,479.00 billion,only.
” We will sit tommorow for the third reading of the bill, ” he said.
Balarabe-Abdullahi said that efforts should be intensified to improve the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to complement statutory allocation to the state.
Aliyu Dogara-Mohammed (APC-Wamba) , the Chairman, Finance and Appropriation, while presenting the revised budget said that the state government revised the initial budget of over N108.4 billion to over N62.96 billion due to COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world.
He added that the initial 2020 budget size of N108.4billion had been cut down by 42 per cent
Earlier, Tanko Tunga (APC-Awe North), the Majority Leader of the House, while moving a motion for the adoption of the committee’s reports, urged his colleagues to support his motion.
Iliya Luka Zhekaba (PDP-Obi 11), the Deputy Minority Leader of the House, seconded the motion for the adoption of the report.
NAN also reports that the governor had on Dec. 4, 2019 presented a 2020 budget proposal of N100.52 billion to the assembly for consideration and approval.
Sule, who tagged it as “Budget of Inclusive Development”, said that it was anchored on his administration’s policy of transparency, accountability and prudence.
The assembly subsequently passed the appropriation bill on Dec. 23, 2019 after raising it from N100.5 billion to N108.4 billion.(NAN)
