El-Rufai presents N370bn 2023 budget as education, health take 45.34%

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has presented the 2023 draft budget to the State House of Assembly.

It is the eighth and final budget of Governor El-Rufai’s tenure which ends in May 2023.

The N370.33 billion budget is a 21.82% increase from the 2022 revised appropriation of N303.99bn.

Giving a breakdown of the draft budget, the governor, on Tuesday, said: “The sum of N242.21 billion is proposed as capital expenditure, and N127.7bn as recurrent expenses in the 2023 estimates.

“The capital to recurrent ratio of 65.5% to 34.48% reflects our consistent commitment to investment over consumption.”

El-Rufai stated that the 2023 estimates maintained a focus on human capital development, adding that “our proposal allocates 45.34% of the budget to education and health”.

“The allocations of 29% to the education sector and 16.05% to health leave no doubt about our abiding commitment to human capital development.

“The 2023 budget estimates make provisions for continued pro-poor interventions in nutrition, health care, skills acquisition, and empowerment funds for women, youths, and vulnerable groups.

“Along with provisions for the Social Investment Programme, these pro-poor interventions are costed at N11.32bn, representing about 3% of the proposed budget size,” the governor added.

He noted that the proposed budget estimates assumed that crude oil prices will stabilise around USD70 per barrel and that the official exchange rate will be around N435.57 to the dollar.

Governor El-Rufai said: “Uncertainties persist in the global economy. Promising signs of sustained recovery from COVID-19 have been replaced by fears of inflation and recession in the major economies.

“This economic climate may affect demand for Nigeria’s main export, petroleum, with consequences for the exchange rate, prices, and general economic performance.”

El-Rufai told the lawmakers that the final budget concluded eight years of determined effort to make lives better by putting people first, saying: “We have implemented empowerment policies, respecting people our enough to free them from dependence on those who insert themselves between the treasury and the people.

“We have diligently sought to promote equal opportunity, improve human capital development, build infrastructure, attract new businesses, support existing ones and run a system that promotes the ease of doing business.

“We have reformed government while celebrating what was good in the past, honouring people, and completing inherited projects. We have done our best amidst the continuum that disciplined governance should be.”

While thanking the House for its cooperation, the governor however noted the journey has had smooth phases as well as rough junctions.

According to him, their relationship has “been sustained in sadness and joy by faith and our commitment to our sacred oath to do our best for the people of Kaduna State.

“We have sent many executive bills over the last seven years, and this House has commendably discharged its duty of enacting vital legislation,” he added.

Governor El-Rufai said his administration has “made Kaduna State better and giving our successors a strong base from which to carry the baton still further to achieve more for our people.”

The Star