The Kwara State House of Assembly on Friday passed a budget of N656,595,559,298.49 for the 2026 fiscal year.

The passage of the budget followed the presentation of the report of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation on the 2026 appropriation bill to the House.

The committee chairman, Arinola Lawal, laid the report before the House at the plenary presided over by the speaker, Yakubu Danladi-Salihu.

Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq had, in December 2025, tabled a budget estimate of N646,004,816,893 for 2026 before the House for consideration and approval.

The passage of the 2026 budget, amounting to N656,595,559,298.49, saw an increase of N10,590,742,405.49.

A breakdown of the revised budget showed that the state’s recurrent revenue increased to over N409,600,000,000, reflecting an upward review of N10,500,000,000.

Meanwhile, recurrent expenditure was reduced to N212,600,000,000, representing a cut of N6,400,000,000, in line with efforts to strengthen fiscal discipline.

The speaker explained that transfers to the Capital Development Fund have been raised to N271 billion from N254 billion to boost funding for capital projects across the state.

He added that N14,200,000,000 was allocated to debt servicing in the 2026 fiscal year, slightly higher than the earlier proposed figure.

Mr Danladi-Salihu said the adjustments were made to ensure prudent financial management and to support the effective implementation of government programmes and projects in the state.

He commended the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, under the chairmanship of Ms Lawal, for a job well done.

The speaker also appreciated the heads and officials of all ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) in the state for their cooperation and support during and after the ministerial budget presentations across the various sectors.

He further directed the clerk, Ahmed Kareem, to prepare and transmit a clean copy of the budget to the governor for his assent.

(NAN)