Kaduna govt to fund budget with IGR – Commissioner

Kaduna state government will stop relying on federal allocation to fund it’s budget in the next few years, the Commissioner and Chairman of the State Budget and Planning Commission Muhammad Sani has said.


Sani stated this on Tuesday while addressing a public hearing held at the Kaduna State House of Assembly on the 2022 appropriation bill submitted by the state government. 
He said the state government has improved significantly on its internally generated revenue (IGR) since th inception of this administration. 


 “We are progressing and in the next few years Kaduna can provide for infrastructure and other obligations with it’s own money so that whatever comes from the federal allocation will be an addition. 
 
 “In 2015 when this government came in, the highest IGR that has been achieved was N13 billion annually and we are very happy today that we are at N57 billion because of the continued support of the State House of Assembly.

“The first law that was passed was the consolidated law that was what opened the doors for rise in internal revenue generation by the state. Kaduna state government now rely only on about 31% from federal allocation while some other states rely on 70-80% from federal allocation. We have been able to move the state from a state that completely rely on federal allocation to one that is sustainable. 

“When the government came in 2015, our plan is that we must be able to fund our salaries from money we realise within Kaduna which means that whatever happens from the federal government we will be able to take care of the salaries and other state’s obligations. There are states who are owing 5-8 months salary because of reliance on federal allocations.

“It is important that we note this and understand that we will bring more and more bills to the house and more initiatives to state and understanding revenue to the state is the most important thing to do,” he explained.

He said since Governor Nasir el-Rufai presented the budget to the State House of Assembly, it has been following up various processes to finalise on a budget that is not only inclusive but sustainable.