El-Rufai signs 2021 budget into law

Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna, on Wednesday, signed the state’s 2021 budget into law.

The governor had presented the N237.52 billion draft 2021 budget — 63 percent of which he said is devoted to education, health and infrastructure — to the state house of assembly in October 2020.

Speaking on the budget, el-Rufai promised to sustain the 98 percent capital implementation recorded in 2019, and to consolidate on the achievements recorded in infrastructural development in 2020.

He also commended the state house of assembly for ensuring passage of the bill before the end of 2020.

Present at the signing of the budget were Hadiza Balarabe, deputy governor; Yusuf Zailani, speaker of the state assembly, and other senior officials from the legislative and executive branches of government.

“It is my privilege today to sign the 2021 budget of the Kaduna state government into law as passed by the Kaduna state house of assembly. I thank the house of assembly for consistently passing the next year’s budget way ahead of the end of the preceding financial year,’’ he said.

He noted that the budget implementation will begin on January 1, 2021, adding that “this is an unprecedented achievement. We are the only government that has for years without fail started its budget on 1st January.”

According to him, the implementation of the budget on the first day of the year is the result of the hard work of the state government, as well as the commitment of lawmakers of the state assembly.

He cited the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that the state would not be deterred in its resolve to ensure sustainable development which will benefit residents.

“Even with this pandemic, Kaduna state has continued to make huge strides in infrastructural development, as well as expanding on our health system, to deal with these kind of emergencies,” el-Rufai said.