Gov. Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, on Friday, signed the state’s N208.064 billion 2024 budget into law, 10 days after it was passed by the state House of Assembly.

Mr Yahaya assented to the 2024 appropriation bill in Gombe in a ceremony witnessed by the speaker of the Gombe State House of Assembly, Abubakar Luggerewo and other top government functionaries.

Speaking during the event, Mr Yahaya lauded the synergy between the executive and the legislative arms of the government that had resulted in the smooth budget processes in the state.

He stated that the state’s budget was prepared in the interest of the people and that explained why capital expenditure was allocated 58 per cent of the total budget as against 42 per cent allocated to recurrent expenditure.

“I am happy to say that over the years, the house has been cooperative.

“Since 2020 till date, we thank God Almighty the house has never failed us in passing the budget four times; 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and this is 2024. We remain ever grateful for the support.

“This is the idea behind the synergy between the Executive and the Legislature and even the Judiciary. We shall continue to maintain it to achieve the aims and objectives that our forefathers fought for.

“The ratio of capital to recurrent is always bigger, with 2024 getting 58 per cent, and it’s in the interest of the people for us to continue to work together; we shall remain steadfast,” the governor said.

Speaking earlier, Mr Luggerewo, while describing the budget as “very good,” commended Mr Yahaya for prioritising capital expenditure over recurrent, which he said had become the norm under Mr Yahaya’s administration.

He said the state government under Mr Yahaya’s leadership had consistently reduced the cost of governance by minimising the recurrent expenditure as part of efforts to deliver good governance to the people.

Explaining the reason legislators increased the budget by N300 million, the speaker said it was done in the interest of the people.

“The legislative scrutiny that was supposed to be done was thoroughly done, and that resulted in increasing the budget size from about N207.75 billion to N208.064 billion.

“It was done because we saw what required some funding which we considered very critical, and it was done in the interest of the state,” he said.

Mr Yahaya had, on Dec. 4, presented a budget of N207.75 billion to the House for legislative consideration.

The budget proposal was made up of N87.25 billion or 42 per cent for recurrent expenditure and N120.5 billion or 58 per cent for capital expenditure.

The budget, which is Mr Yahaya’s first in his second tenure, is tagged “Budget of Continuity and Consolidation.”

(NAN)