…As Speaker, Rt. Hon Lawan, Pleads For Restoration Of Civil Authority In His LG
By Inusa Ndahi, Maiduguri
The governor of Borno State, Babagana Umara Zulum, on Wednesday presented a budget proposal of N234.8 billion for the 2023 fiscal year to the state House of Assembly for consideration.
The Appropriation Bill is N34 billion less than the fiscal year 2022 budget proposals.
This was even as the Honourable Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, Rt.Hon. Abdulkarim Lawan, while commending Governor Zulum, however appealed to the governor and other security agencies, especially the military, to hasten efforts in liberating Gudumbali, the headquarters of Guzamala Local Government Area of the state, which has remained the only council area with no civil authority, as there is no human existence since many years ago.
Zulum said, “The sum of N234,831,950,000.00 has been budgeted for the 2023 fiscal year, which is made up N144,175,033,000.00 for capital expenditure and N90,656,917,000.00 for recurrent expenditure, to be financed from recurrent revenue of N137,846,861,000.00, which will comprise FAAC revenue of N67,981,950,000; internally generated revenue of N33,171,306,000.00; Value Added Tax, VAT, of N30,193,605,000.00 and other federation account sources of N6,500,000,000.00.
“The Budget will also be financed by capital receipts of N95,685,089,000.00; comprising loans and grants. The 2023 budget, like the 2022 budget, shall be based on the Federal Government fiscal forecast for 2023 to 2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, which is already domesticated for the first time in the state through your support recently.”
It was observed that the Ministry of Finance tops other ministries with more than N30 billion and is closely followed by the Ministry of Education, with over N28 billion allocation, while the Ministry of Works got about N25 billion.
Closely following is the by Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement, which were appropriated with over N19 billion each.
Governor Zulum urged members of the House of Assembly to give a critical appraisal to the proposal and grant their approval in view of the need to continue with the task ahead of the state.
He also announced that he will soon open the Gwoza – Maiduguri and the Maiduguri – Damaturu routes for night journey, since the security situations have greatly improved.
Zulum also expressed the hope that his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, will be returned elected in the 2023 general elections, so that he would continue with the good works which his administration started.
Responding on behalf of the legislators, the Speaker, Rt. Hon Lawan commended Governor Zulum for transparently implementing almost all the promises made in the 2022 budget, despite the security challenges in the state.
He said that with the cordial relationship that exists between the executive and the legislature, the Honourable House will study the budget immediately to ensure its speedy passage into law.
Meanwhile, the Speaker used the opportunity to appeal to the governor and the military to redouble their efforts to ensure the return of civil authority in Guzamala Local Government Area, which is still a ghost town in the past many years.
