By AbdulRaheem Aodu,
Kaduna
Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state at the weekend told Kaduna state stakeholders that his government proposes N166 billion draft budget of restoration for the 2016 fiscal year comprising of N104 billion capital and N62 billion recurrent components.
He said that the town hall meeting is to enable stakeholders deliberate and contribute to the proposed 2016 draft budget before formally presenting same to the Kaduna State House of Assembly next month. El-Rufa’I said in the proposed 2016 budget, one of the pro-poor programmes, included interventions in school feeding, planting of economic trees, and waste collection which are expected to create 200,000 jobs to make Kaduna state grow at a rate that significantly surpasses the national average.
Addressing stakeholders who converged at General Hassan Katsina House, Kaduna, during the budget Town Hall meeting, Governor El-Rufa’i in his speech entitled ‘Putting the people first: Back to Budget Realism’ said that, huge annual budgets were approved in the past without being implemented, leaving a legacy of abandoned projects.
He however assured that the present administration is determined to make the state great again by reversing the neglect that the public interest has suffered and restore hope. “We have called this meeting today to present to you the broad principles informing the policy choices that are reflected in the draft 2016 budget. The budget is anchored on the commitments outlined in the Restoration Programme, the manifesto platform on which the Kaduna state APC campaigned.
“Year after year, only the recurrent part of the budget attained perfect performance. Capital investments repeatedly suffered, sometimes reaching only 1% in some sectors or 17% performance overall. They had reduced budgeting into a fictographic art, with scarcely any relationship to reality. Huge annual budgets were approved without being implemented, leaving a legacy of abandoned projects
“Major highlights of the budget proposals; The 2016 budget moves away from funding government to providing infrastructure and services to citizens. It restores the 60:40 ratio in favour of capital expenditure. This is in keeping with our agenda to expand access to education, healthcare, jobs and security.
“At its current draft, the proposed overall budget size is about N166bn, comprising N104bn capital and N62bn recurrent components. Our fiscal assumptions are based on a conservative benchmark oil price. If the oil price rises well above the benchmark, we intend to save all excess crude oil revenues in a special account for a rainy day or request supplementary appropriation by the State House of Assembly if the additional resources are immediately needed.”
