By BAKO ABDUL USMAN

On Friday, December 22, 2023, the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Uba Sani, signed the 2024 budget into law.

I received the news with mixed feelings.

On the one hand, the signing of the budget early means the government has sustained the January-December fiscal calendar. While on the other hand, the hurried process the budget was appropriated and approved by the State legislature raises huge concerns.

The budget is too important to be rushed without the needed painstaking checks and balances by the legislature. The proposed budget was presented to the Assembly on Monday, passed by the Assembly on Thursday and signed into law by the governor on Friday.

What time did the Assembly take out to really review the over 240 pages proposed budget side-by-side the economic and fiscal update, fiscal strategy paper and policy statement alignment?

What was the average time frame the Assembly took to drill the Ministry, Department and Agency (MDAs) during the committee defense? Did the Assembly even have time to study and consider submissions by the civil society groups during the public hearing? Did the Assembly even make any input or changes into the budget document? Or was the appropriation process a mere formality to tick the box? If the rumor we hear is true that the governor gave the Assembly directive on when they should conclude the process for his assent, then we should be worried.

It will mean the Assembly is not worried about changing the negative popular narrative driven by the belief that it is a rubber-stamp institution. The Assembly is supposed to use its legislative powers to hold to account the executive arm and not to take directives from it. The blame should be shared equally by the governor. The late submission of the proposal also placed the Assembly in a difficult position.

I recall I did a write up on my Facebook page with the title, Governor Uba Sani: Frequent Trips, Insecurity and Development Challenges. This was because rumors were fast spreading that the governor was spending too much time outside the State with important matters of administration and reforms suffering. This was at a time when the accidental bombing happened in Igabi LGA and the 2024 budget draft was pending.

Now that the budget has been passed and implementation is next, we will be monitoring, as this is where we will see if a good job was done during the formulation and appropriation. We will see if the budget is realistic and if the days of budget releases without cash-backing are gone in critical sectors such as health and education, among others. Nonetheless, I commend my governor for prioritizing rural development, the poor and vulnerable groups in the 2024 budget.

My recommendation is that my governor should lead his troops from the front in the implementation of the 2024 budget. We are in a war situation considering our huge development challenges. My governor should set up key performance indicators for all the sectors. He should not only rely on paper reports but should consistently carry out on the spot assessment across sectors.

I wish my governor, and a fellow comrade in the struggle for social justice, well. That is why I will continue to share my opinion where I identify issues for corrections and praise him in areas he is doing well, in order to ensure he succeeds.

•Bako Abdul Usman (BK) is Financial Secretary, Kaduna Maternal Accountability Mechanism (KADMAM). He can be reached via 08060674537, bk4deeza@gmail.com

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