Borno governor signs N248 billion as 2021 budget

The governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, on Monday signed a N248 billion spending plan as the budget for the state for 2021.

Governor Zulum had on December 9, 2020 presented a budget proposal of N208 billion to the state House of Assembly for appropriation.

The Assembly had in three weeks debated the appropriation bill which they added N40 billion.

Speaker of the Borno House of Assembly, Abdulkarim Lawan, had while presenting the passed budget to Governor Zulum, said the N40 billion increment on the budget will tackle “critical industrial sectors earmarked for resuscitation by the state government.”

He said the Assembly believed those industrial outfits would provide jobs and stimulate the economy.

Governor Zulum earlier proposed a capital spending of N135.1 billion while setting aside N72 billion for recurrent expenditure.

But the lawmakers altered the budget upwards, with capital expenditure alone gulping 65 per cent of the entire proposal.

Though the increment was based on rebuilding industries, the state government has not given a breakdown of how much each sector would take.

Meanwhile, Mr Zulum commended the lawmakers for the speedy passage of the bill.

Governor Zulum said with the signed budget he intends to focus on “security, education, healthcare, agriculture, provision of potable water as well as reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement of internally displaced persons and refugees.”

Governor Zulum had in 2019 proposed N134.5 billion as the budget for 2020.

The Assembly later passed this after increasing it to N146.8 billiin. With the outbreak of coronavirus early 2020, the budget was reviewed down to N108 billion.