Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has presented an estimated 2022 budget of N233 billion to the State House of Assembly.
He submitted the appropriation bill tagged ‘Budget of Sustainable Growth’ on Tuesday to lawmakers at the legislative chamber of the Assembly in the state capital.
The governor explained that the sum of N146 billion representing 63 per cent was for capital expenditure and N87.6 billion representing 37 per cent was for recurrent spending respectively.
He stated that this was slightly smaller than the 2021 budget of N237.52 billion, which had N157.56 billion and N79.96 billion as capital and recurrent expenditures respectively.
According to Governor El-Rufai, the allocations in the 2022 budget estimates reflect the political values and governance principles that have consistently guided the six previous budgets his administration has presented since 2015.
Like the previous budgets, he informed the lawmakers that the priorities of the bill were education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
The governor gave an assurance that his government would complete all ongoing projects before the end of his tenure.
Justifying the allocations, he said the government would ensure that the urban renewal programme would be completed, along with initiatives in the health and education sectors.
Most of the capital spending will be in the economic and social sectors, in keeping faith with our stated governance agenda,” he said. “We propose to devote 76.8 per cent of the capital budget to schools, hospitals, and infrastructure, including housing. Capital spending on education is N68.4 billion (29 per cent) and for health – N35.1 billion (15 per cent).
“These figures show that the 2022 draft budget estimates express our political values and governance principles in the same consistent manner as our six previous budgets. Devoting N115 billion to these critical sectors demonstrates continuity in our emphasis on education and health as the key drivers of human capital development and on investments in Infrastructure as essentials to promoting economic competitiveness, support job creation, and advance the well-being of our people.”