The Permanent Secretary, State House, Jalal Arabi, has said the 2018 budget proposals of the State House would focus on completing all the on-going projects.

Attah Esa, Deputy Director (Information), State House, Abuja in a statement in Abuja on Friday, quoted Mr. Arabi as having made this known when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Special Duties.

He appeared before the committee to defend the 2018 budget proposals and the utilisation of the 2017 budget releases.

Mr. Arabi noted that several ongoing projects had been stalled or delayed due to funding constraints.

The permanent secretary said the budget proposals were anchored to deliver on Nigeria’s Economic Growth and Recovery Plan (EGRP) 2018-2020.

According to him, the budget will maximise scarce resources in a manner that it functions optimally and ensures that security of the State House is not compromised.

He urged the committee to note that the State House administration caters for the offices of the President and the Vice-President.

Other offices, according to him, are the Chief of Staff, the Chief Security Officer to the President, the State House Medical Centre and the State House Liaison office in Lagos.

The State House budget proposal for 2018 is N15, 479,178,778 for capital and recurrent expenditure.

The Chairman, House Committee on Special Duties, Nasir Zangon-Daura, described the State House as the nerve-centre of the nation.

According to him, there is the need to be fair in the allocation of resources so that it can effectively service the strategic offices located therein.

He assured that the committee would be open-minded in its recommendations without compromising quality.

(NAN)