Tambuwal signs Sokoto’s N220.5 bn 2018 budget

By Paul Efiong with agency report

Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal on Wednesday signed into law the 2018 budget for Sokoto State recently passed by the State House of Assembly.
Speaking at the signing ceremony held at the Government House in Sokoto, Mr. Tambuwal promised to implement the N220.5 billion budget optimally for the benefit of the people of the state.
The budget sets aside 69.9 percent, or N152.8, for capital expenditure and N67.6 billion, representing over 30 percent, for recurrent expenditure.
For the third year running, the education sector got the highest allocation with 26.1 percent of the budget, followed by health sector with N20.932 billion, and agriculture with N16.535 billion.
N14.255 billion was allocated to Works and Transport while Lands, Housing and Survey got N11.560 billion.
Mr. Tambuwal said despite the challenges the state faced in meeting revenue targets in the past, the government was hopeful of implementing the 2018 fiscal document.
“We are aware that the legislature has not tinkered with the overall budget size, even though they have reallocated some resources to different subheads, we are happy with that.
“We believe it is within the purview of your rights as legislators to do what you have done and we will implement it as passed,” the governor added.
While commending the lawmakers for their work on the budget document, Mr. Tambuwal praised the cordial relationship between the executive and the legislature in the state.
“This has helped in strengthening democracy in the state. The people should know that our relationship is not a master-servant relationship, but one based on mutual trust and respect for the two arms of government,” he stated.
The Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Salihu Maidaji, said the legislature was satisfied with the performance of the state budget in 2017.
He urged the government to strengthen the internal revenue board to enhance its performance and promised that the Assembly would work with the executive to repeal laws hampering the state’s revenue drive.