Kwara State House of Assembly Passes N292.7bn 2024 Appropriation Bill

The Kwara State House of Assembly has approved the 2024 Appropriation Bill worth N292,741,292,132.30, as presented by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.

This decision followed the governor’s initial proposal of N296,457,875,578, which underwent a downward revision of N3,716,583,446, representing a 1.5% decrease in the budget.

Speaker Yakubu Danladi-Salihu, presiding over the plenary on Wednesday, commended his colleagues, the House’s management, and staff, particularly the Appropriation Committee led by Fatimoh Arinola Lawal, for their thoroughness and successful execution of the budgetary process.

Danladi-Salihu emphasized the need for sustained efforts to ensure the substantial implementation of the budget, with a focus on delivering value for the public funds allocated.

He highlighted that the approved budget allocates 61% to capital expenditure, while recurrent expenditure accounts for 39%, as initially presented by the governor.

The Speaker noted that Kwara State has adopted the budget template of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), aligned with global best practices in budgeting.

He further stated that the Kwara State Legislature has consistently led by example in this regard, solidifying its position among state legislatures in the country.

He recalled that the state’s previous budgets adhered to the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability, and Sustainable (SFTAS) programme’s fiscal reforms.

With the SFTAS programme concluded by the end of the first quarter of 2023, Kwara State has now embraced the National Charts of Accounts in preparing the 2024 budget, aligning with the newly introduced State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER).

The Speaker highlighted that this alignment with the SABER template makes Kwara State eligible for intervention funds from economic reform programmes, placing the state in a favorable position for economic development initiatives.