By; FUNMI ADERINTO, Kaduna
Kaduna State Government led by Governor Uba Sani at the weekend, commenced 2024 to 2026 expenditure budget defence focusing on agriculture and rural development.
The commencement of the Expenditure Budget Defense for the fiscal years 2024 to 2026, a momentous occasion that underscores the ministry’s commitment to delivering essential services to the citizens of Kaduna State through effective economic planning and the coordination of fiscal processes.
Hon. Muhktar Ahmed, Chairman of the Estimates Committee, led the proceedings alongside other committee members, as the event unfolded at the Conference Hall of the Planning and Budget Commission, emphasizing its significance at the weekend in Kaduna.
The Expenditure Budget Defense stands as a testament to the dedication to responsible financial management, transparency, and accountability.
It serves as a vital platform for stakeholders to rigorously assess and deliberate upon the proposed budget, ensuring that it aligns with the needs and aspirations of the people of Kaduna State.
Speaking in an interview with the Hon Commissioner, Planning and Budget Commission, Muhktar Ahmed in his capacity as the Chairman Estimates Committee, he said that this year is also another period for budget defence.
According to him, Kaduna State from 2016, has been operating a multi year budget process as the activities for the budget is not only for incoming year hence we look at what we plan to do budget wise in the next coming two year.
He said, the exercise is to cover for 2024, 2025 and 2026 and almost all the MDAs in the state have come before the committee.
“It is a committee set up to listen to them in terms of their requirements of the budget for this year,” he said.
However, all the members of the committee are staff of Kaduna State Government, while the Chairman is the Commissioner of budget and planning.
He said, he was impressed with what they have been able to achieve so far.
“Meanwhile, before the exercise, we have done other activities to prepare ourselves for the exercise,” he added.
The chairman said, “we had an interaction with the commissioners for them to understand the budget process, we also trained the staff of the ministries, especially those that are in the planning and budget department for them to understand how to prepare the budget itself and engage with the citizens.”
He further said, “after today, we will continue with budget circular which is captured in the calendar, we will have a town hall meeting with the citizens, civil society organisations, people with disability, and other groups that are stakeholders in the budget process.
“However, the Kaduna State House of Assembly will be given this document to look at it, and different MDAs will defend their budget position before we send it to Governor Uba Sani,” he explained.
The Commissioner said the 2024 budget project is going to be mainly on agriculture and rural development.
“Ghe governor campaigned on seven point of SUSTAIN agenda, some of the activities is our concentrations for 2024 will be agriculture and rural development,” he pointed out.
