Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State has presented a budget estimate for the 2022 fiscal year of N154.5 billion (154 billion, 510 million, 614 thousand naira) to the State’s House of Assembly.
Governor Yahaya told members of the house that the budget was made up of 69 billion, 117 million, 214 thousand naira as recurrent expenditure, which represents 44.7% of the total budget, while 85 billion, 493 million, 400 thousand naira was for capital expenditure, which also represents 55.3% of the budget sum.
Governor Yahaya said the proposed budget was conceived to be financed by estimated recurrent revenue of 73.6 billion naira and capital receipts of 79.86 billion naira and an estimated closing balance of 4 .88 billion naira.
According to Governor Yahaya, the Recurrent Revenue Receipts was expected to be sourced from Internally Generated Revenue of 13. 2 billion naira, while Statutory Allocation would be 36 billion naira, the Government share of Value Added Tax would be 18 billion naira and the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC receipts would be about 6.4 billion naira.
He said for the implementation of the Capital Expenditure in the 2022 fiscal year, the sum of 85.4 billion naira had been earmarked, 57.9 billion naira for the Economic Sector, 20.59 billion naira for the Social Sector, 5.37 naira for the General Administration and 2.6 billion naira.
He said Works and Infrastructure had the highest proposed allocated of 20. 9 billion naira.
Governor Yahaya said the sector was a top priority for his administration, because of the need to tackle the dilapidation of the state infrastructure stock and the completion of abandoned projects.
“Today, most of these projects have either been completed or are at various stages of completion. I have also given approval for the preparation of a 30-year Gombe State Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (GSIIP). The document will guide our infrastructure plans and implementation. For this, the sum of Twenty Billion, Nine Hundred and Ten Million Naira,” Governor Yahaya said.
Trade, Industry and Tourism took the second position in high budget allocation, with 10.9 billion naira for investment in the sector, followed by the Housing and Urban Development Sector, with an estimated sum of 7 billion naira, which according to Governor Yahaya, is to facilitate good urban planning and development in the state.
“We have finalized arrangements to source for funding from Family Homes Fund to build 2,500 units of affordable and social houses. Equally, our efforts to see the take-off of the projects and infrastructure of the Gombe Capital Special Development is on course.”
The Health Sector has a budget estimate of 6 billion and 27.5 million naira to improve access to quality healthcare services to the people of Gombe state.
The Agriculture and Livestock Sector has a budget estimate of 2 billion, 7.23 million naira, according to Governor Yahaya is to strengthen the Agricultural value-chain by boosting Small, Medium and Large-Scale agricultural processing in the State. To fund activities in this sector.
Rural, Community Development and Cooperatives has 1.99 billion naira, to continue with the various interventions to improve the quality of life in our rural communities within available resources.
The Gombe State Governor said the Land Administration Sector was estimated to have 1.3 billion naira, to continue with the turn-around in land administration and management.
“The Gombe Geographic Information Systems (GOGIS) has been empowered to develop and audit the Gombe Capital Special Development Zone as well as other development areas. GOGIS, when fully operational will be one of the major contributors to our IGR,” Governor Yahaya said.
The sum of 6 billion, 238 million, 600 thousand naira has been earmarked for the Water Resources Sector, in the government’s continues efforts to realize the Pindiga Water Augmentation Project, the Dukku and Gombe South Regional Water projects and the utilization of the water bodies along the river banks.
The Environment and Forestry Sector has a budget estimate of 4.56 billion naira, to manage the environment.
Governor Yahaya said the Gombe State Ten Year Development Plan, from 2021 to 2030, had clearly spelt out the strategies for addressing the challenges of environmental degradation and climate change.
He said the sum of 216 million has been proposed for the Science, Technology and Innovation Sector, to reposition the sub-sector in the state
For the Education Sector, the sum of 2.78 billion naira has been earmarked for the continued efforts by the government to reposition the sector, through improved infrastructure, quality assurance, deliberate attention to science, technology, engineering and Mathematics studies.
“Work is currently on-going to upgrade five secondary schools to Mega Schools with a capacity to accommodate not less than 3,000 students each,” said governor Yahaya
Also, the sum of 3.16 billion naira has been proposed for Higher Education in Gombe State, for growth and development of the Gombe State University, the College of Education Billiri, State Polytechnic, Bajoga and College of Legal and Islamic Studies Nafada, and the construction of a permanent site for the College of Nursing and Midwifery, Gombe.
Youth and Sports Development is estimated to have a 2.6 billion naira in the 2022 Budget, to encourage and strengthen youth engagement in sports, which serves as a unifying factor in the societies.
The Gombe State Governor said Women Affairs and Social Development Sector was proposed to have 1.3 billion naira, to promote the relevance of women, children and other vulnerable groups in decision making and the implementation of relevant policies and programmes in this sub-sector
Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs has been estimated to have in the proposed budget, the sum of 115 million naira to strengthen the synergy between the State and Local Governments, the Local Government Planning Bureau and the Joint Project Development Agency was put in place.
Internal Security and Ethical Orientation has an estimated to have an estimated 1.7 billion naira for investment in the Internal Security and Ethical Orientation sub-sector, while Information and Culture is estimated to have 405 million naira to provide the enabling environment for information dissemination and promotion of our cultural heritage.
Governor Yahaya said his administration would continue to ensure good governance for the people and strengthen ministerial engagements for effective service delivery, with the sum of 4 billion, 374 million, 500 thousand naira to that effect.
For Law and Justice, Governor Yahaya said 2.6 billion naira had been earmarked for the sector, to strengthen the operations of the sector for the benefit of all in the society.
Overall, the Gombe State Governor said his administration would continue to strengthen the civil service through capacity building, payment of salaries and address the needs of the retired civil servants for them to live a dignified retirement life.
He said his administration would look inward and improve internal revenue drive and step up efforts to improve internal revenue base.
“Some of these actions include repositioning the Internal Revenue Service for improved performance, identification of new revenue sources, advocacy and sensitization of the populace on the need to pay their taxes,” Governor Yahaya added.
PIAK
