Make Budget Realistic — Group tells Gov. Sani

Make Budget Realistic — Group tells Gov. Sani

By: Femi  Mustapha

The Kaduna State Government has been advised to ensure realistic budgeting to reduce the frequency of budget releases without cash-backing as evident during previous budget performance tracking.

The Head of the Leadership, Governance, and the Advocacy Coalition of  Associations for Leadership, Peace  Empowerment, and  Development (CALPED) Yusuf Ishaku Gone asserted this during a Town Hall meeting on the Kaduna State 2024 Appropriation organized by the Kaduna State House of Assembly.

Goje explained that the  2024 draft budget increased by N81 billion (21.7%) from the 2023 budget, saying, It is good for the government to spend more on its citizens.

He, however, opined that there is a need for effective implementation of strategies to enhance revenue generation using the appropriate fiscal policy instrument that would enhance the revenue-generating systems and processes.

This, according to him should focus more on expanding the revenue sources not increasing tax rates.

Goje urged the government to enhance the process of acquiring a Certificate of Occupancy C-of-O as well as ease of doing business in the state.

“The State government should accelerate the review and approval of the Sector Implementation Plan (SIP) to ensure adherence to policy-budget linkage and result-based monitoring & evaluation. Ideally, the sector’s budget should be drawn from their various SIPs.

“Key overhead costs (some of which we have identified above) should be reviewed and considered for reallocation to strategic priorities.

“The viability of the proposed loan from Afri. Exim Bank should be reconsidered to ensure a guarantee for accessing the loan. If not it should be dropped and a supplementary budget initiated when the loan is 100% guaranteed.

“A percentage of the allocation for social investment programs should be allocated for the take-off of the Social Security Administration to ensure better coordination mechanism and value-for-money.

“The Equity Funds Basic Health Care Provision Funds (BHCPF) Counterpart Funds should be released adequately and timely to ensure more vulnerable groups are enrolled.

“To have a prosperous 2024, we must play by the books, adhering to the recommendations in the MTEF document, and create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive. We must bring down the cost of governance invest more in critical sectors/areas and ensure timely budget releases/cash-backing.” He said

Goje premised that   the government should prioritize  the completion of ongoing infrastructure development, for instance, the Peugeot to Sabon Tasha road.