Gov Bala Mohammed submits budget proposal exceeding N300bn to Bauchi Assembly

The State House of Assembly has been presented with a budget proposal of N300.2 billion by Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State for approval.

On Thursday morning, the budget—dubbed the budget of consolidation and renewed focus—was displayed on the house’s floor.

Mohammed clarified that the benchmark oil price of 73.96 US dollars per barrel, an exchange rate of N700 to the US dollar, and a prediction of 1.78 million barrels of oil production per day were the foundations upon which the 2024 budget was built.

Read Also: COP28 Summit: Tinubu has meeting with King Charles III in Dubai

The governor went on to say that the 2024 plan was based on two key factors: an enhanced and effective mechanism for collecting internally generated revenue; and an improved level of revenue accruals into the Federation Account as a result of the removal of oil subsidies.

He claimed that while preparing the 2024 budget, the state government took into account the following measures, such as making sure that ongoing projects are completed and only proposing new projects based on their vital necessity and potential immediate impact.

He also stated other steps taken in the process of creating the 2024 budget, such as ensuring that non-essential overheads are reduced and that budget standards published by the Nigerian Governors Forum are followed, as well as ensuring peer review and comparability.

Others included achieving our goals of obtaining beneficial sources of capital receipts and financing, such as grants and aid, public-private partnerships, and adhering to debt servicing and repayment arrangements in order to complete our obligations.

Governor Mohammed revealed that the projected budget for this year included N121,341,193,343.11 for recurring expenses, or 40.4%, and N178,878,512,477.49, or 59.6%, for capital expenditures.

He noted, “The budget I presented at this House for 2023 is 48.2% lower than the 2024 proposed Budget.”

The rise in revenue resulting from the elimination of subsidies and the rising inflationary tendencies linked to the local currency’s depreciation.

This suggests that our initiatives and activities would be implemented with higher costs. This cautious strategy is being used to make sure that programmes and projects are accurately estimated in terms of cost.

“Everyone has participated in the budget development process.

“Public hearings on the budget were held in each of the three senatorial zones, and stakeholder input was solicited and incorporated into the budget proposal.”

In response, Speaker Babayo Mohammed Akuyam gave the governor his word that the House would see to it that the proposed budget was passed quickly.