Kogi House of Assembly has opened 2022 budget defence by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) with a charge on them to ensure equity, accountability and transparency to transform Kogi in all sectors.
Mr Aderonke Aro (APC-Yagba East) who declared the defence open on Tuesday in Lokoja said the exercise was part of the constitutional mandate of the Assembly to scrutinise official spending in government institutions.
He urged heads of MDAs in the state to be forthcoming with useful information in the defence of their budgetary estimates to make the exercise a success.
Aro expressed optimism that the exercise would enable the emergence of an implementable budget with adequate provisions for various sectors, capable of transforming and making the state a better place.
He charged MDAs to be equitable and transparent in defending their budgets to enhance implementation and transformation of various sectors.
Defending the budget of Government House Administration, Mrs Stella Ayodele, Director Administration and Finance (DAF), said new projects were not captured in the 2022 budget as the focus was on completion of on-going ones.
Ayodele, in her submission before the House standing Committee on protocol, privileges, said the Government House was not a revenue generating agency.
She said the reduction in the 2022 capital estimate was basically as a result of figures picked from 2021 budget, which suffered poor releases in the outgoing year.
Speaking earlier, Muktar Bajeh (APC-Okehi), Chief Whip and Chairman, House Committee on Government House Administration, called for better performance in the 2022 fiscal year.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Gov. Yahaya Bello on Oct. 28, presented an Appropriation Bill of N145.89 billion tagged, “Budget of Accelerated Results” to the Assembly for scrutiny and approval. (NAN)
