Breaking: Niger Assembly Approves N1.558 Trillion Appropriation Bill for 2025,,frowns at Late Presentation of Budget by the Executive
From Our Correspondent
Just four days after Niger State Governor Rt Hon Umaru Mohammed Bago presented the 2025 appropriation estimate to the State House of Assembly, the assembly has approved the budget of N1.558 trillion for the year 2025.
This approval follows the submission of a report by the eight-member House Committee on Planning and Appropriation, chaired by Hon. Zubairu Ismaila Zana, during the plenary session on Thursday.
The governor presented a budget estimate of N1,558,887,565,358.00 to the State House of Assembly for consideration for the 2025 fiscal year, which reflects an increase of N500.6 billion over the 2024 appropriation, representing a 48.32 percent rise.
The 2025 budget includes a recurrent expenditure of N335,361,443.00 billion, accounting for 13 percent, while N1,362,552,203,915.00 trillion is allocated for capital expenditure, representing 87 percent.
The governor stated that the budget will be funded through several sources, including:
– Statutory Allocation: N53,400,000,000.00
– Value Added Tax (VAT): N85,300,555,454.00
– Other Federation Allocation Account (FAAC) receipts: N900,000,000.00
– Internally Generated Revenue (IGR): N63,360,000,000.00
– Additional IGR: N368,241,948.00
– Capital receipts: N558,767,956.00
This brings the total budget size to N1,558,887,565,358.00.
In presenting the appropriation committee’s report, the chairman noted that adjustments were made based on certain observations. However, these changes did not affect the overall budget size.
For instance, the committee found that the capital allocation of N1,920,000,000 for the legislature was severely inadequate. They recommended moving N1,196,097,350 from special projects and stabilization funds to increase the total capital expenditure for the legislature to N3,116,097,350.
Additionally, the committee observed that the proposed recurrent expenditure for the legislature was insufficient. Therefore, it was recommended that N1,423,704,715.56 be transferred from the state pension and gratuity fund to raise the total recurrent expenditure for the state legislature to N3,547,000,000.00.
Based on these adjustments, the recommended recurrent expenditure now stands at N335,361,443.00, comprising:
– Personnel Cost: N72,276,458,552.00
– Overhead Cost: N53,986,010,146.00
– Consolidated Revenue: N72,952,892,754.00
The revised capital expenditure, considering the adjustments, now totals N1,359,652,203,915.00. This includes:
– Administrative Cost: N27,977,297,352.00
– Economic Sector: N1,103,239,447,039.98
– Law and Justice: N3,508,500,000.00
– Social Sector: N926,959,923.00
However, the committee expressed concern over the late submission of the 2025 budget, stating that it resulted in hasty scrutiny and delayed passage. The chairman recommended that the executive ensure the budget is presented to the legislature at least three months before the end of the year for proper examination and timely approval.
