Niger Assembly Expresses Sympathy for SDGs Over Inaccessibility of Funds
From Rashidat Abdulrahman, Minna
The Niger State House of Assembly’s Standing Committee on Public Petitions and Privileges has expressed sympathy for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiative due to their inability to access counterpart funds necessary for executing projects in the past year.
The committee chairman, Hon. Sani Umar, who represents Kontagora One, made this statement during the SDGs budget screening held at the state assembly complex in Minna.
Following the budget screening, the Secretary of the SDGs, Hajiya Saratu Alfa Mohammed, announced that the projected budget for the SDGs in 2025 is 2 billion naira, which will be funded by both the state and federal governments.
Although she noted that they were unable to access any funds during the previous year, she remains hopeful that counterpart funding will be released soon, allowing for the execution of numerous projects within the state.
Hajiya Mohammed also expressed her appreciation to the committee members for their sympathy towards the SDGs and their intentions to increase the budget allocation, which she described as minimal.
She indicated that this financial constraint has made it difficult for them to pay casual staff and maintain their offices.