Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, the governor of Bauchi State, on Thursday, November 18, 2021, presented a proposed budget of N195,355,607,143 to the state House of Assembly for the 2022 fiscal year.
The proposed budget, which was presented on the floor of the Assembly in Bauchi, according to the governor, was made up of N84,375,180,518 for recurrent expenditure, which was 43 percent of the total budget, and capital expenditure of N110,620,426,625, amounting to 57 percent of the budget.
Governor Mohammed informed that the 2022 proposed budget was 8.5 percent lower than that of 2022, adding that, “The reduction was arrived at in order to align our projections with the current economic realities especially related to our ability to meet anticipated revenues.
“This conservative approach was adopted to ensure that projects and programmes captured are implemented.”
The budget, tagged, “Budget of Consolidation and Continuous Commitment”, Governor Mohammed said was prepared based on the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, in compliance with Bauchi State Fiscal Responsibility Law (2009) and the National Format and Chart of Accounts with a view to improving the quality of financial reporting in line with the International Public-Sector Accounting Standards, IPSAS.
According to him, while the 2021 budget was predicated on the national assumptions of oil production of 1.88 million barrels per day; benchmark oil price of $57 per barrel; an exchange rate of N410.15 to the US dollar, and an improved and efficient system of internally generated revenue collection.
He said that in the course of preparing the 2022 budget, the government took into consideration some measures, including ensuring completion of ongoing projects only; proposing new projects only on the basis of critical need, and the immediate impact it would make on the lives of the people; ensure reduction in non-essential overheads.
Others, according to the governor, included compliance with budget guidelines issued by the Nigerian Governors Forum to ensure peer review and comparability; maintenance of critical spending on core government services; compliance with debt servicing or repayment agreements in order to meet up our obligations; application of loans only to finance critical capital expenditure projects and target favourable sources of capital receipt s and financing such as aids and grants, PPP, etc.
Giving a breakdown of the budget estimates, the governor said out of the N100,893,132,559.25 estimated recurrent revenue for the 2022 fiscal year, N24,494,940,253 was estimated as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR); N66,938,107, 748 (statutory allocation) and N15,608,321,097 (VAT).
For recurrent expenditure estimates, Mohammed informed that a total sum of N84,735,180,519 was earmarked for recurrent expenditure, made up of N37,004,732,226 (personnel cost) and N47,730,448,292 (overhead cost)
According to him, for its capital receipts, it was projected that the state would realise N71,926,293,537 made up of N37,359,244,994 loans (internal and external); aids, and grants of N27,035,467,936, and other capital receipts of N7,531,580,607.
The capital expenditure, which N110,620,426,625 was proposed for, the governor informed was made up of the following allocations: N7,485, 890,598 (Administrative sector); N57,074,814, 525 (Economic sector); N1,860,000,000 (Law and Justice sector), Regional sector and Social sector had N13,967,626,982 and N30,232,094, 520 respectively.
While soliciting the continuous support and cooperation of the House “as usual in our efforts towards the development of our dear state and in improving the lives of its citizens”, Governor Mohammed appealed to members to expedite action towards passing the budget into law.
This, he said, would enable the government to implement the programmes and projects that would have a significant impact on the people.
