Kwara gov signs N292.7bn 2024 budget into law

The Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, on Friday, signed the 2024 Appropriation Bill into law.

He described it as a significant move towards enhancing infrastructure and fostering sustainable economic growth in the state.

This was contained in a press statement made available to newsmen by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye.

The governor also assented to the Local Government Amendment Bill, saying, “We are looking forward to holding the local government elections very shortly.”

The Kwara State House of Assembly had on Wednesday approved a budget of N292.7 billion for the state’s expenditures in 2024.

The passed budget is 1.25% lower than the initial estimate of N296.4 billion presented to the Assembly by Governor AbdulRazaq in December 2023.

AbdulRazaq expressed gratitude to the House for its important contributions to the Local Government Elections Bill, highlighting that it has cleared the path for the upcoming elections.

“Today, we are taking another bold step in the annals of our state. We commend the Assembly for doing a good job with the budget and for taking their time and making sure it is SABER (State Action on Business Enabling Reforms)- compliant,” the Governor said late Friday in Ilorin.

“You did very well before when we were committed to SFTAS (State Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability). Our being SFTAS compliant has been very beneficial to the state as it ensured transparency in the way we do things.

The governor also noted that the allocation of 61 per cent of the budget to Capital Expenditure was a strategic decision aimed at accelerating infrastructure development throughout the state.

“We have been able to reduce the debt of the state through negotiation with the federal government, and it will soon be reflected in the DMO chart, where you will see that the debt profile has drastically gone down.”

The budget signing was attended by the Speaker Kwara House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Salihu Danladi; House Leader Oba Abdulkadir Magaji; Chairman House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Hon. Arinola Fatimoh Lawal; Chief of Staff to the Governor, Prince AbdulKadir Mahe; Senior Advisor and Counsellor Sa’adu Salau; Attorney General of the state and Commissioner for Justice, Senior Ibrahim Sulyman; Commissioner for Finance, Dr Hawau Nuhu; Commissioner for Communications, Bola Olukoju; and the Clerk of the House, Alhaji Kareem Ahmed Olayiwola.

The Speaker of the House of Assembly, for his part, commended Governor AbdulRazaq for being one of the first state governors to comply with the SABER template for the budget process and for working so hard to reduce the debt profile of the state.

“By the grace of God, the Kwara State House of Assembly has engaged all the MDAs for budget defense and scrutiny, and we were able to meet up with the SABER standard, which is a new template after SFTAS has wound down in the first quarter of 2023,” he said.

“It is a new template being used by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and all the states and I am happy Kwara, being the state of the NGF Chairman, is one of the first states to key into the SABER template.

“This budget has touched all sectors, and I know Kwarans will benefit greatly from it,” he stated.