Six governors on Wednesday signed the 2021 budgets of their states into law to kick-start the January to December budget cycle across the states.

This is in line with President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s new budget cycle, which will begin on Thursday.

Ogun State

Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun assented to the state’s 2021 Appropriation Bill of N338.6 billon, less than 24 hours after it was passed by the House of Assembly.

The budget, tagged: Budget of Recovery and Sustainability, comprises Recurrent Expenditure of N162 billion (48 per cent of the total budget) and a Capital Expenditure of N177 billion (52 per cent).

The House of Assembly, on Tuesday, slightly adjusted the recurrent and capital expenditures of 74 agencies, including the capital receipt.

This followed the recommendations of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, led by Kunle Sobunkanla.

House of Assembly Speaker Kunle Oluomo read the clause-by-clause of the budget during plenary and passed N146.529 billion for Recurrent Expenditure; N20.182 billion for Consolidated Revenue Fund Charges (CRFC), while N171.898 billion was allocated for Capital Expenditure.

Highlights of the budget are: Infrastructure, N61 billion; Social Welfare and Well-being N93 billion (includes Health, Housing, Environment, Physical Planning, Women Affairs, etc); Education, N58 billion; Youth Empowerment, N6 billion; Agriculture, N15 billion and Enablers N106 billion, among others.

Governor Abiodun assured the people that Ogun State would strive to recover from the challenges caused by COVID-19 pandemic and forge ahead in the critical sectors of the economy as enunciated in the budget.

Cross River State

Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade also signed the state’s 2021 budget into law yesterday.

Christened: Budget of Blush and Bliss, the 2021 budget has N281.9 billion, a sharp reduction from the previous budget sizes of over N1.01 trillion.

At the signing ceremony at the State Executive Chambers of the Governor’s Office in Calabar, Ayade said the budget made provisions for the establishment of a state polytechnic.

It also has provisions for social welfare schemes, like grants and other financial benefits to cushion the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the people.

The governor attributed the reduction of the budget size to his administration’s decision to cut the financial commitments of the state in key projects, such as the Bakassi Deep Seaport and the 275-kilometre superhighway to five per cent.

The projects, he stressed, are to be built on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.

On the reason for the huge reduction, Ayade said: “We had explained this in the budget presentation that we are shifting from all the big dreams to the basic, primordial things of survival and ensuring that there is food on the table.”

The governor said the 2021 budget was streamlined to meet the intended focus, hence the provision for only five per cent of the cost for such capital projects, like the 275-kilometre Superhighway, the Bakassi Deep Sea Port, Calas Vegas Island, among others.

He said the state’s Privatisation Council, in partnership with KPMG, as their consultants, will select the best investors for the projects.

Ayade expressed optimism that with the number of industries he has established, the state’s economy will get a huge boost in 2021.

Bauchi State

Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed also signed the state’s N213.9 billion budget into law yesterday.

Mohammed presented the Appropriation Bill to the House of Assembly on December 15, 2020.

It was tagged: Budget of Consolidation, and was unanimously passed by the lawmakers on Tuesday.

The 2021 budget is N46.7 billion higher than that of 2020, which was N167.2 billion.

Signing it into law yesterday at the Government House in Bauchi, Governor Mohammed said his administration was looking at the basic outcome of the budget to ensure that every sector is positively affected

He expressed satisfaction that though there were little changes in the budget at the House of Assembly, he would have done so to expand the provision of projects and programmes across the local government areas as well as the villages and towns for equity and justice.

The governor said Bauchi residents deserve better treatment, hence his administration’s decision to introduce Bauchi Urban Renewal project to upgrade the state capital.

Mohammed said the state government will invest in agriculture, water supply, youth and women empowerment, adding that rural roads were being opened up by connecting the rural markets and the urban centres.

Presenting the budget to the governor for assent, Speaker Abubakar Sulaiman said N93,197,307,655, or 44 per cent of the budget, would be set aside for Recurrent Expenditure.

He added that N120,717,468,313, or 56 per cent, would be for Capital Expenditure.

Sulaiman hailed the Assembly and committee members for their support and cooperation in passing the budget.

Enugu State

Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi yesterday signed the state’s 2021 Appropriation Bill of N169.8 billion into law.

The House of Assembly had, on December 29, 2020, passed the Bill, following its presentation for consideration on December 9, 2020, by the governor.

The sum of N101.1 billion, representing 60 per cent of the budget, was earmarked for Capital Expenditure, while N68.7 billion, representing 40 per cent, was for Recurrent spending.

Ugwuanyi said the 2021 budget would be judiciously implemented in a way that the people would be the ultimate beneficiaries.

The governor hailed the Assembly for considering and passing the budget within a record time.

Ugwuanyi said that he was optimistic that 2021 would be better for the people.

Deputy Speaker Uche Ugwu, who presented the budget for assent, said the Assembly engaged the state’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) constructively during the budget defence.

Abia State

Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu signed the 2021 budget, christened: Budget of Local Contents and Sustainable Development, into law on Wednesday.

The Bill, which was passed by the House of Assembly during the Tuesday plenary, was presented to the governor by the Clerk of the House, Sir John Pedro Irokansi.

The governor endorsed the N131,852,752,000.00 budget, which comprises N69 billion for Capital Expenditure and N62.8 billion for Recurrent Expenditure.

Ikpeazu had presented the budget to the state House of Assembly on December 7, 2020.

The budget, which is 21.12 per cent higher than 2020 Appropriation Bill, comprises N62,624,512,000.00 Recurrent Expenditure and N69,191,240,000 Capital Expenditure.

The governor explained that the budget was inspired by the quest to reinvent the Abia spirit of industry and ingenuity and stimulate industrialisation through the establishment of cottage industries in the 17 local government areas of the state.

Kogi State

Also, Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello signed the 2021 budget of N130 billion into law.

The governor assured the residents that the implementation of the budget would lead to maximum positive impact on their lives.

The governor recalled that the state government won a grant of $5 million from the World Bank over the state’s 2020 budget performance for the doggedness of his administration in implementing the budget.

Bello said the doors of the state was opened to individuals who were interested in doing business assuring the people that the coming year would be that of progress, prosperity and good health.

The Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning, Asiwaju Idris revealed that while the state performed maximally in the implementation of its 2020 appropriations, he was optimistic that it would meet the targeted 85% implementation next year.

Nasarawa State

Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule also signed the 2021 budget into law yesterday.

The House of Assembly passed the N115,722,814,343.31 budget, which is slightly higher than the N112,923,174,543 he presented to the Assembly.

At the signing of the budget into law at the Government House in Lafia, Sule promised to focus on agriculture, education, health, security, economic empowerment and general infrastructure in 2021.

“…I have no doubt that we will continue to work together more closely towards the realisation of our common goals and the execution of people-oriented programmes and policies geared towards the development of the state. (The Nation)

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