The Kogi State Governor, His, Excellency Alh Yahaya Bello has presented an estimated Draft Budget of 172,090,787.929 for the 2023 fiscal year for consideration and approval by members of the State House of Assembly.
The Governor in his address stated that the 2023 budget is a People’s Budget that will drive acceleration in the delivery of basic infrastructure and social service.
He also noted that the 2023 budget is crafted as an instrument that will guide the efforts of his administration to improve the economy of the state.
He however said the 2023 – 2025 multi-year budget is premised on zero-based budgeting principles, tailored towards the actualization of the state development plan
The Governor said that the proposed budget is designed to capture only realizable revenues and enhance internally generated revenue
The budget which is tagged the Budget of Transformation will focus on the continued provision of physical infrastructure, human capital development, job creation as well as poverty eradication
He said the proposed 2023 budget is slightly more than that of 2022 because it represents the informed assessment of the funds the state can generate from other sources which will be used to argument the allocation from the Federation Account and other official sources.
The 2023 total Budget of 172,090,787,292.00 is as against N167,301,926,197.00 approved in the revised budget for the year 2022.
It has an increase of N4,788,825,095.00 and represents 2.86%
The 2023 budget also has a recurrent expenditure of N101,315,129,341 representing 58.87% of the budget and N70,775,657,951 as capital, representing 48.13%. This is aimed at establishing the necessary framework for a robust mining and solid mineral sector, improving the road network in urban and rural areas which will improve the quantity, quality, and access to safe water for domestic, commercial, and industrial uses.
A breakdown of the budget shows that the administration has a total allocation of N40 billion representing 21.94% of the budget; Economic N53b representing 31%; Law and Justice N7b representing 4.14%; Social N63b representing 36.69% of the budget.
According to Gov. Bello, the proposed budget has an estimated revenue of N172b, and an estimated expenditure of N172b, thus representing a balanced budget of N172, 090,787,292 for the 2023 fiscal year.
Governor Bello while describing the legislative arm as a workaholic house, said it has passed over 100 bills into law in the last seven years adding that it has helped give a legal bite to the gradual unfolding of the New Direction Agenda and thanked them for the usual cooperation and support to the Executive in his administration
