Taraba state Governor Darius Ishaku on Friday presented the 2022 Appropriation Bill of over One Hundred and Forty Six Billion Naira (146,781,653, 671.82) tagged Budget of Hope and Consolidation to the state House of Assembly for consideration.
The governor who laid the budget on the Floor of the House commended the members for ensuring a cordial and smooth working relationship between the Executive and the Legislature in the past and urged that the relationship should be sustained for common good of the state.
He said that the budget which represents 3.64% increase over the previous budget has a total recurrent expenditure estimate of N78.7bn and Capital expenditure estimate of N68.7bn.
Ishaku noted that the implementation of the current budget which stand at 34.55% as at the end of third Quarter as against the projected 75%, due to the impact of COVID-19 and insecurity in the region.
Speaker of the House Professor Joseph Albasu Kunini in his remarks said that the members are fully conscious of the need for expedient processing and passage of the Bill into law and would work tirelessly to sustain the January to December budget circle that has been put in place by current administration.
“Over the course of the last six years, the implementation of the series of Appropriation Laws in the state has greatly put smiles on the faces of a good number of the people of Taraba state. In the same vein, I am happy to also report that because of the dogged commitment of Your Excellency to maintain a cordial, symbiotic and harmonious working relationship with all branches of government in the state, particularly the Legislature, the budget circle which hitherto commenced in March or sometimes April is now brought back to January – December of every fiscal year. This is highly commendable as it is in line with international best practices.
“As the 2022 Appropriation Bill is presented today and laid before this August Assembly, this Honorable House is very mindful of imperative and sensitive nature of the timely processing and passage into law of this important Bill. In view of this, therefore, I wish to humbly assure Your Excellency that we shall not let you or the people of the state down. What this Honorable House demands is the cooperation and understanding of all and sundry who have one role or the other to play in the processing of this Bill”.