Kaduna ministries begin 2027 budget defence

The Kaduna State Government has commenced the defence of its 2027 budget proposal, with human capital development, agriculture, health and education listed among the administration’s major spending priorities.

The state Commissioner for Planning and Budget, Muktar Ahmed Monrovia, disclosed this on Wednesday at the opening of the 2027 Expenditure and Revenue Budget Defence exercise.

Monrovia said the proposed appropriation would build on the programmes and policies implemented by Governor Uba Sani’s administration since it assumed office, describing the 2027 budget as a “consolidation of what has happened in the last three and half years.”

He said human capital development would remain a major component of government expenditure, but disclosed that the state was introducing early child development as a new area of focus.

“Attention will still be on Human Capital Development, there is the latest entrant into the budget cycle, which is Early Child Development,” he said.

According to the commissioner, the new budget line would target children between zero and five years as part of efforts to strengthen the state’s human capital development programme from the early stages of childhood.

He added that social protection, security and infrastructure would also remain key areas of expenditure, particularly as the government continues its efforts to improve security and support vulnerable communities.

Monrovia said the administration had made significant investments in security during its first three and a half years and would sustain those interventions in 2027.

“In the last three and half years, His Excellency has done much in the area of security and the policies and programmes will continue next year,” he said.

The commissioner noted that the 2027 appropriation would be the fourth budget of the Uba Sani administration and the final budget cycle of the governor’s first term.

Agriculture, he explained, would receive substantial attention because of the size of Kaduna’s farming population and the sector’s potential to stimulate economic activity across rural communities.

He said available data showed that Kaduna has more than one million of the estimated 42 million farming households in Nigeria.

“That is why His Excellency has focused attention on Agriculture and in the last three years, he has distributed free fertilizers and improved seeds to smallholder farmers,” Monrovia said.

He said the government’s rural transformation programme was also designed to improve access between farming communities and markets, arguing that stronger rural economies would create opportunities for residents and help curb migration to urban areas.

“The rural transformation agenda of the Governor is also aimed at connecting farms to markets. This will boost the local economy and reduce the rural-urban migration,” he said.

The ongoing budget defence will see ministries, departments and agencies present their proposed revenue and expenditure estimates for scrutiny as the state moves towards preparing its 2027 Appropriation Bill.