From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna
Activist Yusuf Ishaku Goje has identified the task of reducing the high poverty rate in the Kaduna State as the biggest challenge to Governor Uba Sani.
Goje, in a statement made available to the media in Kaduna yesterday
Goje, who volunteers as the Head of Governance & Advocacy of the Coalition of Associations for Leadership, Peace, Empowerment & Development (CALPED) noted that
He noted that poverty is biting hard as a result of the harsh economic reality, therefore social protection interventions should not be allowed to be hijacked based on partisanship or primitive accumulation by the privileged.
He added that the current insecurity cannot be divorced from the high rate of poverty. So the administration must ensure that the right people are the targeted beneficiaries and no one who deserves it is left behind.
The statement reads: “Gov. Sani inherited a multidimensional poverty rate of N8.04 million and counting. In the 2024 budget, the administration earmarked to spend N27.8 billion on social protection, which is 6.0% of the total budget of N458 billion. This is also an increase of 64.34% from the N16.9 billion allocated in 2023.
“The increase in 2024 is commendable, even though if converted to dollars it is less than what was allocated last year. In 2023, using N448 to 1$ as of 1st January, the dollar equivalent of the N16.9 billion allocated for social protection was $37.8 million. While, at the same time in 2024, the equivalent of N27.8 billion using N899 in 1$ was $30.9 million. Similarly, the per capita, using the projected population of 10.4 million, is N2, 665. While the per capita for the 8.04 million multidimensional poor in the State is N3,444.
“The breakdown of total expenditure by functional classification shows that out of this total amount for social protection in 2024, N16.2 billion went to personnel, other non-debt recurrent got N533.2 million, while N26.6 million went to debt service, and N11.0 billion to capital expenditure.
“A further breakdown shows that zero amount was allocated to sickness and disability; old age (pension/social benefits) got N15.2 billion; family and children also got zero allocation; while housing got N64.2 million; social exclusion N.E.C got N807.2 million; and social protection N.E.C got N11.7 billion.
“The highest capital expenditure allocation for social protection in 2024 is the Social Empowerment Programme with N10.0 billion under the Ministry of Human Services & Social Development. However, what is more important is not the budget allocation but the cash-backed performance.
“For instance, in 2023, out of the N16.9 billion budgeted for social protection, only N5.3 billion was released as of the 3rd quarter, a 31.6% performance.
“This is not to forget that the quarterly budget tracking report by the Kaduna Social Protection Accountability Coalition (KADSPAC) shows that some of these budget releases are not cash-backed.
Given the above, the administration needs to do more to ensure timely and adequate cash-backing of social protection-specific budget releases across the implementing Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
“Also, as highlighted in my earlier write-up yesterday on mass housing for the less privileged, the utilization of the state social register should be given priority.”
