Katsina to borrow N48 billion for 2023 budget funding

Katsina State Government will source more than N48 billion foreign and domestic loans to fund its 2023 budget. Permanent Secretary in the state’s Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Abdullahi Abubakar, made this known to newsmen yesterday.

Abubakar said the state government had proposed N288.6 billion budget for 2023 and would borrow to fund part of it. He explained that N23 billion foreign loan and N8.9 billion domestic loan would be needed to fund the budget, adding that another N33 billion in foreign and domestic grants and aids would be sourced for the same purpose.

He lamented that the state had been able to rake in about N10.6 billion from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from January to August this year, out of the projected N53.3 billion.

HOWEVER, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, has said the state government captured N300 million monthly (N3.6 billion yearly) allowances for corps members in the state’s 2023 budget to boost their morale, while serving in the various sectors of its economy.

El-Rufai spoke through the Commissioner, Human Services and Social Development, Hafsat Baba, at the close of the 2022 Batch ‘C’ (Stream 1) 21-day orientation at the temporary orientation camp, Government College, Kurmi Marshi, Kaduna North Local Council.

The governor noted that the state government placed a premium on the welfare of the visiting corps members deployed to the state; hence, a deliberate plan to further capture their concerns in the state’s yearly income and expenditure plan.

ALSO, Borno State Government has budgeted N8.2 billion for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities to fight water-borne diseases in the 27 local councils.

The WASH facilities to be provided include six mini-water works, 10 earth dams for water supply and irrigation, as well as construction of toilets at public places.

General Manager of the state’s Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), Dr. Ali Musa, disclosed this, yesterday, in Maiduguri to mark 2022 World Toilet Day.

According to him, many electricity-powered boreholes will be converted to solar boreholes, to ensure a clean energy environment in the state.

He said: “Governor Babagana Zulum has approved the construction of six clusters of boreholes with overhead tanks and reticulated to serve various communities in the state.”

The General Manager, Borno State Environmental Protection Agency (BOSEPA), Abubakar Suleiman, disclosed that 16 per cent of the state’s population still defecates in the open, even as the state government is committed to end open defecation by 2030.

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) WASH Manager in Maiduguri, Mamita Thakkar, however, lamented that the progress towards universal sanitation is alarmingly off track.