Kogi, Akwa Ibom, Kano sign 2020 budgets into law, Kwara presents N162b, Taraba N213b

Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello has signed a budget of N176 billion for the 2020 fiscal year into law.

During the budget signing ceremony at the Government House on Wednesday, Speaker of the House of Assembly, Matthew Kolawole, hailed the governor’s commitment to transparency and development.

He said the Assembly was expeditious in passing the budget after painstakingly scrutinising it, adding that the house was not in any doubt that it would increase the prosperity of the people of Kogi.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Finance in Akwa Ibom State, Linus Nkan, has explained that the state will spent over N369 billion on the execution of capital projects and N111 billion on recurrent items in 2020 budget signed into law on Wednesday by Governor Udom Emmanuel.

He disclosed this yesterday while fielding questions from newsmen in Uyo on how the N597.735 billion budget would be implemented.

Also, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has assented to over the N206 billion budget for 2020, a few hours after the House of Assembly passed the appropriation.

Ganduje, in November, presented the 2020 fiscal appropriation of over N197 billion to the legislators for approval. With an increase of over N10 billion, the 2020 budget gives the lion’s share to education and health.

But Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq presented in Kwara State’s version of the budget to the House of Assembly on Wednesday, with critical infrastructure and human capital development taking the lion’s share.

The N162 billion fiscal plan comprised 53 per cent capital expenditure covering road construction and rehabilitation, rehabilitation, and re-equipment of schools and hospitals, rehabilitation of court rooms, and completion of a 500-seater hall at the House of Assembly, according to AbdulRazaq.

However, in Taraba State, Governor Darius Ishaku presented an N213, 632,76, 810 appropriations for the 2020 fiscal year, promising to remain focused and to deliver more dividends of democracy to the state.

The governor, who presented the budget yesterday on the floor of the House of Assembly in Jalingo, said his administration had resolved to make the state a leading economy state in the country before 2025.

He described the presentation of the ‘Budget of Accelerated Growth and Development’ as a key constitutional provision which the executive arm of government respect.