Governor Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno state Monday assented to the N269, 696,860.00 2022 appropriation bill passed into law by the Borno state House of Assembly at the Government House, Maiduguri.
The initial budget proposal of N267,921,484.00 was adjusted to N269, 696,860.00 to take care of requests from four ministries during House committee on appropriation’s consultations which raised the budget by over N1.7 billion.
The governor also signed into law two bills the federal government asked all states of the federation to domesticate and pass into law through the state House of Assembly, that is, the Borno State Child Protection Rights Act and the Borno State Violence Against Persons Act.
Governor Zulum noted that before the bills were signed into law in compliance with the federal government’s directives, the bills were subjected to various committees and public hearing processes before it was finally presented to the state assembly for consideration.
While signing the 2022 budget proposal, Governor Zulum appreciated the lawmakers for the speedy passage of the bill, assuring continuous cordial working relationship towards the delivery of good governance to the people across the state despite the security challenges while enjoining all state stakeholders to cooperate in order to move the state to greater heights.
He added that all expenditures must be monitored and have frameworks for tracking for the purpose of avoiding impromptu expenditures while urging all the ministries and their agencies to track down their expenditures.
Earlier, the Speaker Borno state House of Assembly, Hon. Abdulkarim Lawan, while presenting the 2022 Appropriation Bill, said it took the state Assembly 30 days from the receipt of the executive bill in the 2022 Appropriation Bill to consider the bill, having subjected the proposal to the committee on appropriation for consultations and scrutiny.
He added that after the various recommendations of the committees and further consultations, the bill was passed into law by the House based in the records of achievements that the administration recorded since 2019.
The speaker also commended the governor for his support and cooperation with the BOSHA members despite the situation on ground in addressing some major humanitarian issues, especially schools, hospitals, roads, water supply, and housing projects.
The state Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Hon. Barrister Kaka Shehu Lawan, explained that by law, the governor’s assent was substantial in compliance with the federal government law and in accordance with the 1999 constitution as provided in Sections 100(4) and 100 (2)(3)(4).
