Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State presented a draft budget of N458.271 billion to the state House of Assembly for 2024, promising, “It will benefit everyone.”

The governor, who addressed journalists shortly after the budget presentation, said it was tagged “Budget of Rural Transformation and Inclusive Development,” adding that it will prioritise critical sectors.

Mr Sani said the budget was focusing on education, health, rural and economic development, as well as security, infrastructure and human capital development.

“We also hope to revitalise the economies of rural areas, where we will spend a lot of money trying to bring development to our rural areas in Kaduna State.

“This is key if we want to reduce the level of poverty and also create jobs.

“We also allocated a huge amount of money to agriculture because we believe agriculture is very important in the state; this will improve productivity and create jobs,” he said.

The governor reiterated his commitment to supporting hardworking entrepreneurs through social investment programmes while ensuring that the underprivileged and vulnerable groups benefit.

According to Mr Sani, the budget was vetted in a town hall meeting before being sent to the House of Assembly, where members contributed to its advancement.

He added, “We try as much as possible to also include most of the inputs we received during the town hall meeting; that is the reason why I believe this budget is a budget that involves virtually everyone.”

Responding, the Deputy Speaker, Magaji Henry, appreciated the governor for presenting a comprehensive budget and touching on key areas that were necessary for development.

He urged all the members to keep aside partisanship and work together to ensure that the final budget has the best interest of all constituents.

The proposal consists of N318.837 billion as capital expenditure and N139.435 billion as recurring expenditure, representing a capital-to-recurrent ratio of 69.57 per cent to 30.43 per cent. 

(NAN)