Kaduna State Government says that the state is progressing and plans to stop relying on federal allocation to fund its budget in the next few years.
The State Commissioner and Chairman of the State Budget and Planning Commission, Muhammad Sani, stated this during his remarks at the public hearing held at the Kaduna State House of Assembly on the 2022 appropriation bill submitted to the State Assembly by the State Government.
According to him, the state is progressing, and in the next few years, it can provide for infrastructure and other obligations with its own money generated so that whatever comes from the federal allocation will be an addition.
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He noted that the state has been boosting its tax collections with about N57bn which has come with a lot of hard work and partnership with the Kaduna State House of Assembly.
“In 2015 when this government came in, the highest that has been achieved was 13bn Naira annually, and we are delighted today that we are at N57bn because of the continued support of the State House of Assembly and the first law that was passed was the consolidated law that was what opened the doors for rising in internal revenue generation by the State,” he said.
The Commissioner disclosed that the State government rely only on about 31 per cent of the federal allocations, whereas some other States rely on 70-80 per cent from federal allocations.
He further explained that they have been able to move the state from a state that completely relies on federal allocation to sustainable.
“When the government came in 2015 is that we must be able to fund our salaries from the money we realize within Kaduna, which means that whatever happens from the federal government we will be able to take care of the salaries and other state’s obligations,” he said
“There are states who are owing 5-8 month salary because of reliance on federal allocations.
“We must note this and understand that we will bring more and more bills to the house and more initiatives to state and understanding revenue to the state is the most important thing to do”, he explained.
He said since Gov El-Rufai presented the budget to the State house of assembly, he has been following up various processes to finalize a budget that is not only inclusive but sustainable.
