Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State has sent a letter to the state House of Assembly seeking for the passage of N156 billion as 2018 revised budget.
The governor in the letter read yesterday on the floor of the Assembly by the speaker, Dr. Ali Ahmad, he intimated the legislature of the downward review of the 2018 budget of N190 billion which he presented to the House in December 2017.
Ahmed said that the approved total recurrent revenue for the year under review, which was N122.8 billion now stands at N93 billion.
He noted that the review effected on the approved 2018 budget caused 25 per cent decrease.
The governor said that the total recurrent expenditure in the fiscal year had been slightly reduced to N78.3 billion, while the total transfer to capital development fund was also reviewed downward from N42.5 to N14.6 billion.
Ahmed explained that the new figures were against N80.3 billion approved as total recurrent expenditure and N42.5 billion as transfer to capital development respectively.
He said that the capital estimate had also been reduced to N77.6 billion instead of the approved N110.6 billion with 30 per cent reduction.
The governor said that the revised total recurrent expenditure had made recurrent debt to stand at N7.6 billion, while recurrent non-debt stood at N70.7 billion.
He further said the total capital expenditure now stood at N77.6 billion.
“The total budget size after the review exercise is now N156, 043,339,799 against N190, 997,425,571, which represents 19 per cent decrease,’’ Ahmed said.
The speaker, thereafter, urged the House to regard the presentation of the governor’s request as first reading of the proposed review of the budget.
He referred the document to the House Committee on Rules and Business for appropriate action before the second reading.
