By Boluwa Obahopo

LOKOJA— Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State Wednesday, presented his 2015 budget proposal of N110.2 billion to the state House of Assembly for consideration and approval.

The proposal tagged, “Budget of Stability” has N50. 15 billion allocated for recurrent expenses representing about 45.51 percent, while N60.05 billion or about 54. 49 per cent, billion, representing was earmarked for capital expenditure.

Wada said the budget which was N18.7 billion (14.5 per cent) lower than last year’s own, would will be financed from traditional sources of “Internally Generated Revenue, statutory revenue be funded from allocation from the federation account, reimbursement from the Federal Government as well as bonds from capital market.”

Wada, however, said that the dwindling revenue from the federation account affected the budget.

“Our nation is faced with precarious economic challenges resulting from decline in the international price of crude oil coupled with the negative impact of criminal activities like pipeline vandalism and theft of crude oil which have hampered the nation’s ability to meet its daily production quota.

“The future looks challenging more so, as new technologies have now been developed and are being used to extract crude oil from Shale, resulting in the loss of Nigeria’s major buyer – the United State of America.

“In addition, the developed world is turning inwards to seek and utilize alternative sources of energy to reduce their dependence on the importation of crude oil. The effect of these developments has already manifested significantly in the acute reduction of fund that accrues to federation account. This will in turn, affect the state’s share of funds from the federation account.

“This is the grim picture of the nation’s economy which we must rise up to as a state in order to minimise its effects on our resolve to reduce the suffering of our people and improve their living standards,” Wada stressed.

Reacting, the Speaker of the House, Momoh-Jimoh Lawal commended the state governor for his commitment in transforming the state and promised speedy passage of the budget.

He said: “As a measure to maximize scarce resources and stabilize the economy, we have domesticated the Fiscal Responsibility Act and established procurement regulatory agencies and other ancillary laws enacted to ensure prudent management of public finance and maximise public value from public expenditure.”