Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya has signed into law, the 2021 appropriation bill of over 120 billion Naira passed by the State House of Assembly.
The appropriation Act has a total size of N120.3 billion. It reflected an increase of N682,680,000 over the initial N119,663,856,626 proposed by the executive.
Speaking shortly after signing the budget at the Council Chamber of the Government House, Governor Inuwa Yahaya attributed the expeditious passage of the bill into law to harmonious relationship amongst the three (3) arms of government in the state.
“Last year around this time precisely on the 27th of December 2019, we signed the 2020 Appropriation Act and this year we did it much earlier.That means we are improving on efficiency and our processes and procedures are always improving in order to improve the lots of the people of Gombe State”.
Governor Inuwa Yahaya used the occasion to thank the people of the State for their support to his present administration and the House of Assembly for the effective and efficient way they handled the appropriation bill and other bills sent to it by the Executive arm, saying “this shows the level of synergy existing among the three arms of government.
He said his administration will continue to work assiduously to make sure that the greater chunk of the people’s resources go to them through judicious resource management.
Governor Inuwa Yahaya said the christening of the 2020 Appropriation as budget of resilience means a lot not only to those in Government but the entire people of the State. To this end, the Governor called on the people of the state to be more resilient cooperative and hardworking.
“Everybody knows the effect of the covid-19 Pandemic and what it has created not only within the Nigerian society but indeed the entire world and if we work hard enough to overcome the challenges we shall come out stronger more than ever before”.
In his remarks, the speaker of the Gombe State House of Assembly, Hon. Abubakar Mohammed Luggerewo said the budget was given expeditious passage because of its contents which he noted have given priority to the economic development and welfare of the people.
He said the 52 percent for capital expenditure and 48 percent for recurrent expenditure indicated a clear departure from what was obtained in the past where expenditure on governance outweighed service to the people.
The speaker lauded Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya for concentrating on people-oriented projects, policies and programmes which he termed as the hallmark of inclusive governance that prioritizes accountability and transparency.
The budget signing ceremony was witnessed by senior government officials, including the Deputy Governor, Dr. Manassah Daniel Jatau, Speaker and members of the state House of Assembly, Secretary to the state Government, Head of Service, Commissioner of Finance, Special Adviser to the Governor on Budget, Planning and Development Partners Coordination among others.
