The Zamfara state’s budget has been revised downward by N25,203,851,000 by members of the State House of Assembly.
As a result of bandit activities, the COVID-19 epidemic, and the state’s weak Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), the governor’s initial budget of N142,779,251,000 for the 2021 fiscal year was reduced to N117,575,400,000.
After analyzing the report from the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, which was tasked with updating the budget estimate, members of the Assembly decreased the sum on Thursday.
The acting head of the committee, Shamsudeen Hassan, indicated to the House that the state’s long-running insecurity scenario resulted in low revenue creation.
This, in addition to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, he claims, has impacted the state’s capital expenditure performance, which stands at 32.8 percent, as well as recurrent spending, which has a terrible performance of only 27.6 percent.
Yusuf Kanoma, the MP for Maru North, blasted the government’s revenue-generating agencies in his remarks.
He cited the School of Nursing and Midwifery as an example, claiming that more than 1,500 students were admitted after paying a minimum registration fee of N5,000.
According to Kanoma, the institution was left with no funds to provide to the state government.
Nasiru Magarya, the Speaker of the Assembly, praised the committee for a job well done.
He, on the other hand, chastised the Committee on Public Accounts for failing to conduct routine oversight of all state revenue agencies and asked them to do so immediately.
Meanwhile, the House has approved a controversial bill aimed at promoting children’s and young people’s education in the state.
Kanoma sponsored the measure, which also aims to eliminate all sorts of distractions during school hours.