The Kaduna State Government has earmarked N22.9 billion for the education sector, representing 28.1 per cent of the N81.6 billion Supplementary Budget recently passed by the state’s House of Assembly.
A breakdown of the supplementary budget obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria in Kaduna, on Monday, showed that N65.4 billion of the budget was allocated for capital projects.
It showed that of the N22.9 billion allocated to the education sector, N14 billion was allocated to the state’s Universal Basic Education Board to improve infrastructure, access and learning outcomes in basic schools.
“The Ministry of Education and the Kaduna State University got N4.0 billion and N4.1 billion respectively, while N147.2 million was earmarked for the state’s Library Board.“Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic, Zaria, got N492.6 million and Kaduna State College of Education, Gidan Waya, got N110.8 million,” it added.
The document further showed that the Ministry of Finance got N10.6 billion, the second-highest after education, followed by Kaduna Road Agency with N9.8 billion.
The health sector got N4.8 billion, out of which N2.0 billion was allocated to Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital for various capital projects.
“Ministry of Health and the state’s Primary Health Care Development Agency got N1.1 billion each, while N228 million was allocated to Shehu Idris College of Health Sciences and Technology, Makarfi.
“Ministry of Public Works and Infrastructure got N4.6 billion, state Legislature, N3.0 billion, Kaduna Geographic Information System, N2.3 billion and Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, N2.3 billion.
“Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs got N2.2 billion, while Market Development and Management Company got N1.0 billion.”
The document also showed that the agricultural sector got N197.8 million, Kaduna State Urban Development Agency, N200 million and Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources N95.4 million.
Ministry of Business Innovation and Technology got N930 million, while N430.6 million was allocated to Planning and Budget Commission.
A breakdown of the sources of the N81.6 billion shows that N53.9 billion was concessional multilateral loan from World Bank Performance for Result, through the Federal Ministry of Finance.
It also shows that N9.4 billion was a refund of unremitted Pay-As-You-Earned taxes from some Federal Government agencies in Kaduna, while N3.6 billion was from Airport Refund from Ministry of Finance.
According to the document, the amount was for some work executed by the Kaduna State Government in 2017 when Abuja Airport flights were diverted to Kaduna Airport.
NAN reports that the N81.6 billion supplementary budget, in addition to the N157.4 billion earlier approved for 2019, brings the budget size to N239 billion for the 2019 fiscal year.
NAN also reports that in 2018, the budget was N216.55 billion.
