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Zamfara, Ogun assemblies pass fiscal proposals

By Charles Coffie Gyamfi (Abeokuta), Isah Ibrahim (Gusau) and Njadvara Musa (Damaturu)
30 December 2016   |   4:51 am
The Zamfara House of Assembly has passed into law the state’s 2017 appropriation bill it received early this month from Governor Abdulaziz Yari, raising the size of the budget from N107 billion to N117 billion.
Speaker, Ogun State House of Assembly, Suraj Ishola Adekunbi (left); Governor Ibikunle Amosun; Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Adenrele Adeshina and Deputy Governor, Yetunde Onanuga; during the signing of the 2017 Appropriation Bill into law by the governor… yesterday.                        

Speaker, Ogun State House of Assembly, Suraj Ishola Adekunbi (left); Governor Ibikunle Amosun; Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Adenrele Adeshina and Deputy Governor, Yetunde Onanuga; during the signing of the 2017 Appropriation Bill into law by the governor… yesterday.          <br />             

Gaidam assents Yobe’s N69b budget
The Zamfara House of Assembly has passed into law the state’s 2017 appropriation bill it received early this month from Governor Abdulaziz Yari, raising the size of the budget from N107 billion to N117 billion.

Chairman, House Standing Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Aliyu Ango Kagara, presenting the panel’s report before the entire House in Gusau yesterday, recalled that the governor present an appropriation bill of N107,739,293,045,00 with N70,019,000 earmarked for capital expenditure while N37,720,493,045,00 was voted for recurrent expenditure.

He noted that due to adjustment to the fiscal plan, capital expenditure was increased to over N74 billion while recurrent expenditure also got a boost from N37 billion to over N42 billion.

The committee chair told the Assembly that the increase was informed by the state’s expectation of refund in billions of naira for federal roads it rehabilitated.

The speaker, Sanusi Garba Rikiji, commended the committee for its dedication and prompt delivery of the document.

After the entertainment of contributions from members, Rikiji eventually announced its passage adopted all recommendations made by the committee before directing the Clerk to forward the bill to the governor for his assent.

Similarly, Ogun lawmakers yesterday approved the request by Governor Ibikunle Amosun for the Assembly to give vent to his N221,129,344,017 proposal for the coming year. But instead, the legislators slashed the bill by N38 million, returning a budget size of N221, 090, 844, 017 to the executive arm of government.

The passage followed the presentation of the report of the Akanbi Bankole-led House Committee on Finance and Appropriation whose motion of adoption was seconded by Olayiwola Ojodu and supported by the whole House.

The piece of legislation was thereafter read clause by clause by the speaker, Suraju Ishola Adekunbi with motion for the third reading moved by the Majority Leader, Adeyinka Mafe and seconded by Mojeed Soyebo.

Subsequently, the Clerk, Lanre Bisiriyu undertook the third reading and the bill was finally passed with slight adjustments in votes of some agencies, leading to an increment of N107.5 million in the votes initially allocated for salaries from N62.728 billion to N62.836 billion.

The vote for capital expenditure was reduced by about N146 million, sliding from N118.305 billion down to N118.159 billion while expected revenue was also slashed from N114.343 billion to N114.305 billion, resulting in N38.5 million reduction of the total budget size.

The speaker, who later directed that a clean copy of the bill be sent to the governor for authentication, commended colleagues for their “support and steadfastness” in ensuring the passage of the bill.

Also yesterday, Governor Ibrahim Gaidam signed into law Yobe State’s N69.3 billion appropriation bill for the next fiscal year.

Performing the exercise at the Government House, Damaturu, the governor said: “The policy thrust of this budget tagged, ‘Budget of Consolidation and Self-Reliance’ was to revitalise economic activities and promote education, agriculture and health delivery sectors of the economy.”

He said of the total budgetary allocations, recurrent expenditure took 40.3 per cent while capital expenditure got 28.7 per cent of the total package.

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