By Princess Simon (Bureau Chief North Central, in Minna)
Some Niger State House of Assembly members and some Local Government Council Chairmen were on Thursday locked outside legislative complex reportedly on the ‘orders from above’ as the state Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, presented the 2022 budget estimate to the legislature.
The Governor also yesterday presented a budget estimate of, N198, 245, 654, 759, 75 billion to the Niger State House of Assembly for the 2022 fiscal year comprising; N54, 282, 425, 426 billion from Statutory Allocations, Value Added Tax (VAT) expected to yield about N20, 792, 440, 780 billion.
Presenting the budget proposal tagged, “Budget of prosperity and consolidated development”, to the legislature, Governor Bello said the estimate is hinged on six cardinal objectives, including the consolidating on the developmental strides of the administration.
Other sources of revenue for financing the estimated budget are hinged on IGR projected at, N17, 190, 944,2863 billion, Dividends from the North-South power company N500 million while excess crude refund is estimated at N4.87 billion.
Governor Bello while giving a break down of the expenditure framework for the budget proposal, also explained that; recurrent expenditure will gulp the sum of N74.1 billion or 37percent of the budget as against the N72 billion for last year, 2020.
Capital expenditure is estimated at a whopping N124.9 billion an increase of N43 billion from last year's approved N80 billion capital expenditure which represent 62 percent of the the total budget.
Giving further breakdown of sectoral allocation, the Governor who noted that this is the last full budget by this administration, said the economic sector has been earmarked the sum of 87.4 Billion Naira.
Other sectors included, Social sector N25.6 billion, Administrative sector N9 billion and Law and Justice sub-sector N760 million, Governor Bello said, adding that the budget estimate covers completion of all ongoing projects, creation of wealth and as well secure lives and properties of citizenry.
Meanwhile, some law makers of the Niger State House of Assembly and Local Government Council Chairmen were yesterday locked out of the, Usman Jikantoro House of Assembly Complex, Minna as Governor Bello presented the 2022 budget estimate.
The offence of the law makers and chairmen, according to NIGERIAN NEWSLEADER findings, is their failure to be at the Assembly complex before or as at the time the Governor who also arrived the venue about an hour behind schedule was ushered into the complex.
While the law makers and the chairmen angrily left the scene after spending about thirty minutes under the scorching sun after all entreaties for them to be let in failed to yield desired results when suspected political thugs started booing them.
Also, some journalists who were caught in the lock-out drama were later ‘smuggled’ into the chambers through an improvised route about thirty minutes into the Governor’s speech by one of the Assembly security personnel.
Receiving the 2022 budget proposal, the Speaker Niger State House of Assembly, Hon Abdullahi Bawa Wuse, commended Governor Bello for ensuring that the capital budget estimates far outweighed recurrent expenditure in line with developmental needs of the state.
The Speaker however pleaded with the Governor to do everything possible to end security siege to ensure that citizens in local government areas displaced by armed bandits return to their homes to continue in their farming and also in their socio-economic activities. NNL.
