Borno governor signs N181.2 billion budget for 2018

Governor Kashim Shettima has signed the N181 billion (N181,288,514,000) budget for 2018 recently passed by the Borno State House of Assembly.

The governor had on December 27, 2017 submitted a budget estimate of N170 billion to the House.

The Speaker of the House, Abdulkareem Lawan, said it took the legislators about 36 days to pass the budget.

He said the lawmakers found it expedient to increase the budget by N11 billion to make proper provision for the administration’s commitment to road construction and rural development.

He said the increase was necessitated by the inadequate provisions made for three key ministries that are expected to carry out massive rural roads construction across the state.

He apologised for what he called the delay in passage of the budget, in spite of the fact that it was passed 36 days after it was presented to the House.

Governor Shettima commended the lawmakers for their continued support for his administration.

He said the state government would hit the ground running by providing basic services as he assented the budget.

“We thank the Speaker for his leadership in the past six years, despite all odds”, said Mr. Shettima.

“This is commendable in the face of the challenges we face.

“The next six months will be decisive in the life of our administration as we will double our efforts in delivering quality services for our people.

Earlier the state Attorney-General, Shehu Lawan, said the passage and assent of the budget were in line with the provision of Section 121, sub section 1 and sub-sectors 123 of the 1999 Constitution which empowers the governor to present an appropriation bill before the assembly and then sign it into law as soon as it is passed.