The Gombe State House of Assembly on Tuesday passed N208.064 billion as the state’s budget for 2024, indicating an increase of N300 million over the N207.75 billion submitted by Governor Inuwa Yahaya.

This is contained in a statement by the Chief Information Officer of the House, Mr Umaru Ma’aji, on Wednesday in Gombe.

The Speaker of the House, Abubakar Luggerewo , according to the statement, thanked the lawmakers for their support, cooperation and the manner with which the Appropriation Bill was handled.

Mr Ma’aji said the bill was passed after the House Committee on Appropriation on the 2024 budget estimate scrutinised the bill and presented it before the house for adoption and subsequent passage.

According to the statement, Chairman, Appropriation on the 2024 budget, Mr Aliyu Baba-Manu, said it focused on completion of all ongoing projects in the state.

Mr Ma’aji said the chairman said his committee observed that most of the MDAs budget officers were not conversant with the budget provisions, guided by medium term expenditure framework.

Mr Baba-Manu, therefore, recommended that the budget office should transmit the executive council’s approved budget to ministries, to consider the N208 billion budget size for 2024.

Governor Yahaya on December 4 presented a 2024 budget of N207.75 billion to the House for legislative consideration.

The budget proposal is made up of N87.25 billion or 42 per cent for recurrent expenditure, and N120.5 billion or 58 per cent for capital expenditure.

The budget, which is Yahaya’s first in his second tenure, is tagged: “Budget of continuity and consolidation.”

(NAN)