Gov AbdulRazaq Signs New LG Electoral Law, 2024 Budget Into Law ,Says LG Elections ‘ll Hold Soon
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara state signed the 2024 Appropriation Bill into law on Friday, calling this another bold step to expand infrastructure and grow the economic base of the state on a sustainable basis.
The governor has also signed the Local Government Amendment Bill, saying: ‘we look forward to holding the local government elections very shortly’.
He thanked the state House of assembly for its legislative roles on the Local Government Elections bill, which, he noted, will now pave the way for the conduct of the LG elections.
The governor has also said the 61 per cent that his administration has budgeted for Capital Expenditure was a deliberate move to scale up infrastructural development across the state.
‘Today, we are taking another bold step in the annals of our state. We commend the Assembly for doing a good job with the budget and for taking their time and making sure it is SABER (State Action on Business Enabling Reforms)- compliant.
You did very well before when we were committed to SFTAS (State Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability). Our being SFTAS- compliant has been very beneficial to the state as it has ensured transparency in the way we do things.
This is a budget with 61 per cent for capital expenditure (CAPEX) and 39 per cent for recurrent. 61% for CAPEX shows that Kwara does not want to continue as just a civil service state with no strong industrial base. We want to change how we do things, and we want to ensure that we put a lot of effort into infrastructure in the state. Moving the state forward is paramount to us.
We have been able to reduce the debt of the state through negotiation with the federal government, and it will soon be reflected in the DMO chart, where you will see that the debt profile has drastically gone down’ the governor was quoted to have submitted during the signing ceremony in Ilorin on Friday night.
AbdulRazaq’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Rafiu Ajakaye noted in a statement made available to Team@orientactualmags.com that the budget signing ceremony was attended by the Speaker of Kwara House of Assembly , Rt. Hon. Yakubu Salihu Danladi; House Leader , Oba Abdulkadir Magaji; Chairman, House Committee on Finance and Appropriation Hon. Arinola Fatimoh Lawal; the governor’s Chief of Staff , Prince AbdulKadir Mahe; Senior Advisor and Counselor Sa’adu Salau; Attorney General of the state and Commissioner for Justice, Senior Ibrahim Sulyman; Commissioner for Finance , Dr Hawau Nuhu; Commissioner for Communications , Bola Olukoju; and the Clerk of the House of Assembly, Alhaji Kareem Ahmed Olayiwola.
Speaker Danladi commended Governor AbdulRazaq for being one of the first state governors to comply with the SABER template for budget process, and for working so hard to reduce the debt profile of the state.
‘By the grace of God, the Kwara state House of Assembly has engaged all the MDAs for budget defense and scrutiny, and we were able to meet up with the SABER standard, which is a new template after SFTAS has wound down in the first quarter of 2023.
It is a new template being used by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and all the states and I am happy Kwara, being the state of the NGF Chairman, is one of the first states to key into the SABER template.
This budget has touched all sectors, and I know Kwarans will benefit greatly from it’ he said-Team@orientactualmags.com
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