From Ibrahim Sidi Muh’d, Gusau
Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State has presented the sum of N423,523,730 billion being budget proposal to the State House of Assembly for the year 2024 budget tagged as “Rescue Budget”.
Presenting the Appropriation Bill on Thursday, Governor Lawal, said his administration made the proposal for the legislative consideration and passage into law.
Meanwhile, the estimate is made up of N118,134,730,000.00 for recurrent expenditure and N305,389,000,000.00 for capital expenditure which is an exact reflection of the people’s opinion from the grassroots, saying, before coming up with these proposals, town hall meetings were conducted across the emirate councils of the state in order to receive input from the populace.
“Our intention is to ensure that our policies align with the yearnings of the public and we indeed reflect on the national economic outlook, the first half of 2023 came with formidable challenges. We grappled with a myriad of problems hampering the effective performance of non-oil revenue streams, high crude oil prices and its attendant impact on petroleum subsidies.
“The 2024 Budget is strategically crafted to focus on six key sectors of priority including security, education, agriculture, economic growth, health, and infrastructure. These areas are pivotal in propelling Zamfara State towards enduring development.
“In the few months since we assumed office, our administration has introduced new policies aimed at enhancing public service, the economy, and the security of our communities.
“We are all ware that, the 2023 Budget was prepared and presented before the House by the previous administration. The sum of N183,522,227,000.00 was presented as the total estimate for the year, and it was based on projected recurrent revenues and capital receipts of N98,976,227,000.00 and N84,546,000,000.00, respectively.
“The corresponding recurrent and capital expenditure formations were N91,032,207,000.00 and N92,490,020,000.00, respectively and shortly after the assumption of office by our administration, the 2023 budget was reviewed to reflect the prevailing fiscal reality and economic and administrative reforms embarked upon by the Government.
“The revised 2023 budget had a projected revenue estimate of N189,600,000,000.00, which was made up of N122,100,000,000.00 and N67,400,000,000.00 as Recurrent and Capital Revenue, respectively.
This was equally broken down into N94,900,000,000.00 and N94,700,000,000.00 as Recurrent and Capital Expenditure.
“The review has definitely set the ball rolling for actualising our identified priority areas for the rescue of Zamfara State which by the end of the third quarter of the year under review, precisely the end of September, the implementation of the 2023 Budget recorded modest achievements, considering the downturn of economic activities in the country.
“On the overall performance, the total of N78,242,915,758.00 has been realised as accrued revenue, which stands at about 41.2%.”
