Kwara Governor Presents N181bn 2018 Budget

Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, has presented a budget estimate of N181,886,056,555.00 for the 2018 financial year.

Presenting the proposal to lawmakers at the Kwara State House of Assembly on Thursday, Governor Ahmed said the proposed budget reflects an increase of N15,781,009,150 or 9.5% compared to the 2017 Revised Appropriation.

Tagged “Budget of Sustained Growth and Prosperity”, the sum of N75,204,257,902 which represents 41.3% is for recurrent expenditure, while the sum of N106,681,798,630 which represents 58.7% is earmarked for capital expenditure.

“Under the recurrent expenditure, N46,567,379,761 representing 62% is allocated as overhead cost which includes subventions to parastatals, support grants and contributions including overhead cost of tertiary institutions in the state. Personnel cost is expected to gulp N13,918,001,894 or 18.5% of the total recurrent expenditure,” he said.

The governor said the 2018 appropriation bill was formulated using the zero-based budgeting approach while its projections were based on the Federal Government-adopted assumptions of oil price benchmark of $45 per barrel and oil production estimate of 2.3 three million barrels per day.

According to him, the economic affairs sector has the highest allocation of N53,744,166,521.00 which represents 54.4% of the total capital expenditure, while the health sector is allocated N23,918,380,992.00, representing 22.4%.

The education sector also has an allocation of N12,628,47,156 which represents 11.8%, while general public service has N7,550,770,62.00, representing 7.1% of the total expenditure.

Governor Ahmed said government recorded 71% implementation of the 2017 budget with modest achievements in key sectors despite the economic challenges.

Read excerpt of the governor’s address below;

Mr Speaker, distinguished honourable members; the 2018 budget seeks to essentially consolidate the gains of the past years as we continue to build a strong and vibrant economy and ensure that the citizens of Kwara State are prosperous. Therefore, the 2018 Budget has the following objectives:

Strengthening of Internal Revenue Generation (IGR) drive through land administration as a basis for increased revenue generation, as well as identification and leveraging on other revenue sources;

Infrastructural development through the completion of all on-going projects in order to boost socio-economic activities in the state;

Rural roads development for evacuation of agricultural produce from rural areas to urban areas and the supply of agricultural inputs to farmlands/rural communities;

Job and wealth creation for youths through promotion of agricultural value chain and sustenance of human capacity building, especially in the vocational and technical areas; and

We are determined to make good, our commitments to the people of Kwara State within the limits of available resources.

To this end, the proposed 2018 budget will further promote good governance and investment in priority sectors that will enhance and sustain our economic recovery.

Mr Speaker, distinguished honourable members; we are determined to build a state anchored on inclusive and sustained prosperity. We are also mindful of the fact that much remains to be done.

I am aware of the hardship caused by our current economic challenges and recommit to working tirelessly to create conditions for the prosperity of the greatest number of our people.

Meanwhile, I wish to thank all Kwarans for their perseverance, patience and understanding. I equally thank all traditional rulers for the cooperation and support for the state government since the inception of this administration.

Finally, Mr Speaker, honourable members; I would like to express my appreciation for your cooperation with this administration, as well as your dedication towards the progress of our state.

I have no doubt in my mind that this partnership will continue to grow stronger and lead to the Kwara State of our dreams.