The Katsina State Government, on Thursday, unveiled major projects and programmes in the 2026 fiscal plan designed to improve the living conditions of its citizens and develop the state.

The state Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Malik Anas, said in Katsina that the plan was in line with the “Building Your Future Agenda” of Governor Dikko Radda, where the outcomes would directly impact the lives of the people.

He said, “It is a roadmap for shared prosperity, inclusive growth, and sustainable development. This strategy is people-centred and anchored based on the inputs gathered during the town hall meeting held across the 361 wards of the state to address key issues.

“The issues include security; good governance; economic empowerment and job creation; human capital development; sustainable infrastructure; and social inclusion with environmental resilience, among others.”

Mr Anas said that ₦1.2 billion was allocated for critical security assets, ₦500 million for counterpart funding for ammunition and cartridges, and a peace-building and conflict-mitigation initiative would be supported with ₦25 million.

He further said that ₦100 million was for developing the Rugu Forest grazing facilities to promote peaceful coexistence between farmers and herders, among others.

On economic empowerment and job creation, he said that ₦500 million was dedicated to cluster parks and MSME villages, ₦700 million supports start-up business skills and entrepreneurship programmes, and ₦3.33 billion for the Katsina State Graduate Entrepreneurship Programme.

He also said the government set aside ₦5 billion to support the Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance Programme, ₦5 billion to upgrade PHCs, ₦3 billion for completing the Imaging Centre at General Amadi Rimi Specialist Hospital (GARSH) Katsina, and ₦20.5 billion to continue the renovation and upgrading of hospitals.

Mr Anas said another key sector was agriculture, food security and environmental sustainability, where ₦20 billion was earmarked for fertiliser at a subsidised rate, ₦4.5 billion to support agricultural mechanisation, ₦2.38 billion to fund irrigation development across all 361 wards and ₦17.5 billion to support a livestock and meat processing centre.

Other programmes were under power and energy sustainability, human capital development, environmental resilience and social protection.

Earlier, the commissioner presented the 2025 Budget Revenue and Expenditure Performance Analysis of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the state.

He said that the MDAs that recorded the highest performance during the fiscal year that got 100 per cent were the Sharia Court of Appeal and the State Board of Internal Revenue.

According to him, the Drugs and Medical Supply Agency and Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport achieved 79.58 and 78.99 per cent, respectively, to top MDAs that recorded moderate performance during the year under review.

The commissioner said that the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and the State Scholarship Board achieved 49.99 and 49.61 per cent, respectively, to be among the low-performing MDAs during the period under review.

(NAN)