The cynosure of budgeting in Gombe
Budgeting is a key factor in accelerating development, especially if properly formulated and implemented. The seriousness of any government or organisation can be ascertained from its budget priorities vis-à-vis the willingness of such a government to address issues that affect the people whom the constitution recognises as the real custodians of government and the society. […]
Budgeting is a key factor in accelerating development, especially if properly formulated and implemented. The seriousness of any government or organisation can be ascertained from its budget priorities vis-à-vis the willingness of such a government to address issues that affect the people whom the constitution recognises as the real custodians of government and the society.
On Dec. 9, 2019, Gombe State was in the news for all the good reasons as Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, whom many pundits have termed the trailblazer of new politics in Nigeria in view of his persistent ground breaking moves to redeem Gombe State as promised the people during his campaigns across the state, had on that said day presented a budget proposal of N130.6billion which is over N15billion higher than that approved for 2019. The Appropriations Bill, tagged Budget of Change, drew lots of commendations from within and outside the state as a result of its priorities as well as the transparency of the process of its formulation; including stakeholders/ town hall engagements with civil society, trade unions and faith- based organisations.
Gombe State with Governor Inuwa Yahaya on the saddle has taken the lead with the 2020 Appropriation Bill which proposes 55 per cent for capital budget while recurrent expenditure gets 45 per cent of the proposed budget. This is a good budget, diversifying move to give value to the people’s votes and to leave a lasting legacy that will give a developmental blueprint that will set Gombe State firmly on the path of good governance and democratic advancement.
Governor Yahaya had during his campaigns, promised to align the state to the developmental drive of the Federal Government and prioritize education, health, infrastructural uplift, agriculture and human capital development. A check on the manifestos and the proposed 2020 budget will prove the nexus between both.
While the Governor is making deliberate efforts to align Gombe State to the infrastructural revolution of the Federal Government by earmarking 55 per cent of the state’s proposed budget for capital expenditure with Education, Works and Transportation as well as Health getting priority attention. He is also working assiduously to ensure that there is a strict adherence to the blueprint of his administration as outlined in his campaign manifesto.
The move by the Governor is a crystallization of his vision and that shows the genuine intention of Governor Inuwa Yahaya as a man that means well for the good of people of the state. The major issue in Gombe has been that, over the last eight years, there was a disconnect between the leadership and citizenry in the process of development of budgetary allocations and ultimate implementations. This has led to a huge infrastructural deficit which Governor Yahaya restated his willingness to address, knowing full well that the greatness of any nation or state has its foundation in infrastructure which drives development, creates jobs for the youths and women and ultimately impacts positively on citizens at all levels.
“This administration is aware of the huge physical infrastructure deficit in the State. To tackle these challenges, the Budget, Planning and Development Partners Coordination Office shall prepare a thirty (30) year State Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (SIIP). The objective of the plan is to take a stock of infrastructures in the State as well as the infrastructure needs in communities.’’
The above were the exact words of Governor Inuwa Yahaya while presenting his administration’s first budget. For a Governor who thinks of a 30-year State Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (SIIP) that will span a period beyond his administration evidences a man with the vision to put the state ahead of its peers within the North-East and beyond.
A look at the 2020 appropriation as proposed by Governor Yahaya shows that N59,198,283,900 (45%) was proposed as recurrent expenditure and N71,470,453,693 (55%) as capital budget. Further breakdown sees works and transport sector getting the highest allocation of N19,627,048,000 to continue the construction of more roads and completion of abandoned ones which have been activated by Governor Inuwa on assumption into office. The education sector gets a combined estimate of N22.8billion comprising N12, 310,779,193 allocated to education sub-sector while N10, 548,977,000 was earmarked for investment in the higher education sub-sector for 2020 fiscal year. N12, 971,776,000 was allocated for the Health sector while N5, 907,725,000 was allocated to the Ministry of Water Resources for reticulation and other infrastructure expenses to guarantee more water supply to rural communities in the state and N3,252,055,000 was earmarked for the Agriculture and Livestock sub-sectors. With these allocations that will bring infrastructure uplift and which is a deviation from the norm as seen in previous budgets of the last eight years, there is no better tag for the 2020 budget other than ‘the budget of change’ that the state government has tagged it.
When Inuwa speaks bitter about the immediate past administration, some of their associates may think he is simply witch-hunting but an analysis of the 2019 budget alone as prepared by the immediate past administration is a clear-enough reason to know that the interest of the state was never a priority within the last eight years. In a state where huge part of the budget was used for recurrent expenditure without proper records to show that those earning such monies were truly civil servants as revealed by the Civil Service Reform Committee Report that was submitted to Governor Inuwa Yahaya not too long ago, then it’s better imagined the kind of political insincerity which placed the state on negative statistics as portrayed in the recent National Bureau of Statistics, listing Gombe State on corruption index in the country.
The kernel of the matter is that the priority of your budget shows the seriousness of any government or administration and from what has been proposed; Governor Inuwa Yahaya is serious about the development of the state and has shown it in a budget proposal that has elicited commendations from economic and political observers as the way forward for budgeting system in the country if infrastructure deficit is seen as a major challenge that must be tackled to give room for development that will benefit the people.
Though one may say implementation is key, with the series of consistent moves by Governor Inuwa Yahaya in prioritising sectors that directly and indirectly impact the people, there is no doubt that the governor will do justice to implementation in that regard.
A famous quote by Joe Biden, the former Vice President of America which says “don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value,” has done enough explanation to what Gombe state Governor values and with the priority attention of the proposed 2020 budget, there is no mincing of words, the good of the state are in safe hands and are in for a better tomorrow.
Misilli is the Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity) to Gombe state Governor