Bala Mohammed, the Governor of Bauchi state has presented a budget of N195,355,607,143 for the 2022 fiscal year.
This comprises the recurrent expenditure of N84.735bn representing 43%. The capital expenditure receives N110.620bn or 57% of the entire budget proposal.
The governor who presented the budget to the lawmakers at the plenary on Thursday said it is titled “Budget of Consolidation and Continuous Commitment”.
He said that it is 8.5 per cent lower than the 2021 budget saying that the reduction was to enable the state to arrive at a projection based on the current economic realities especially the state’s ability to meet the expected revenues.
According to him, the 2022 budget has been predicated on the national assumptions of oil production of 1.88 million barrels per day; benchmark oil price of 57 US dollars per barrel, an exchange rate of N410.15 to the US dollar and an improved and efficient system of internally generated revenue collection.
The governor said that the sum of N107.041bn was earmarked as recurrent revenue made up of internally generated revenue of N24.494bn statutory allocation of N66.938bn and VAT of 15.608bn.
He explained that the recurrent expenditure estimates with a total sum of N84.735bn have personnel cost as N37.004bn and overhead cost as N47.730bn.
He added that it is projected that the State will realise capital receipts in the sum of N71.926bn and “this will come from Loans (Internal & External) of N37.359bn, Aids and Grants of N27.035bn and Other Capital Receipts of N7.531bn.”
Under the capital expenditure which has N110.620bn, he said the economic sector will gulp the highest sum of N57.074bn, the social sector has N30.232bn.
He added that the regional, administrative and law and justice sectors were allocated N13.967bn, N7.485bn and N1.860bn respectively.
Mohammed said that the government had, in the course of the preparation of the 2022 budget, taken into consideration the completion of ongoing projects, proposed new projects only based on critical need and the immediate impact it would make on the lives of the people and ensured reduction in non-essential overheads.
He appealed to the lawmakers to “expedite action towards passing the budget into law to enable government implement the programmes and projects that will have a significant impact on our people.”
In response, the Speaker of the Assembly, Abubakar Suleiman, assured the governor that the lawmakers are ready to show the same commitment as they did last year and passed the budget before the end of December, for the good of the people of Bauchi State.
“We will scrutinize the budget diligently and ensure its timely passage. We cannot afford to return to the old practise, we must do everything possible within the powers conferred on us by the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria to pass the budget.
“We want to assure the government and people of Bauchi state that we will work with Ministries, Departments and Agencies to deliver the budget that meets the yearnings and aspirations of the people.
“While doing that, we will maintain the highest standard of integrity that our discussions and deliberations will be motivated by considerations of the people of Bauchi state,” he assured.
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