Kaduna to domesticate FG’s social interventions amid 2021 budget

THE KADUNA STATE GOVERN MENT plans to domesticate the federal government’s social intervention programmes by sending legislative instruments to the State House of Assembly to pass into law, Governor Nasir el-Rufai has said.

At the presentation of the state’s 2021 budget to the house, Governor el-Rufai informed the speaker and members of the house about the legislative proposals that will be coming from the executive arm for the rest of 2020 and 2021; citing that there would now be a new Finance Bill since the government has no intentions to increase taxes and levies, adding however, that the new bill will include a Social Protection Bill to build on the recent approval of a State Social Protection Policy by the Kaduna State Executive Council.

In the words of the governor, “This places us in a better position to propose a Social Protection Bill to domesticate the various social intervention programmes of the Federal Government and propose a statewide social safety net that will address the basic needs of our poorest and most vulnerable citizens.”

The governor presented a proposed budget of N237.52 billion for the 2021 fiscal year to the House of Assembly in which the draft budget proposes N157.56 billion and N79.96 billion for the capital and recurrent expenditures respectively.

The proposed amount represents a 66 per cent to 34 per cent capital to recurrent ratio.

el-Rufai said the budget reflects the government’s commitment to promoting equality of opportunity, accelerate human capital development, attain fiscal viability, and reduce inequality.

“In 2021, we propose to spend N59.59 billion on Education (about 25% of the budget), N35.78 billion or 15 per cent on Health and N55.1 billion or 23 per cent on Infrastructure. These three sectors are taking 63 per cent of the total proposed budget. A sum of N124 billion, almost 79 per cent of the capital budget of N157.56 billion is allocated to the Economic and Social sectors. This preserves the ability to maintain investment levels in Education and Health, while continuing projects in the urban renewal programmes,” the governor said.

Part of the legislative proposals that will be sent to the house will included a proposed Chieftaincy and Traditional Councils Bill to entrench the reforms of the chieftaincy system, specify the composition and classification of the emirate and traditional councils, and update the provisions of colonial laws on the subject. Other pending laws include an Employment Promotion Bill, a State Education Bill, a Commercial Code and a Family Court.