Chrysanthus Dawam, the Plateau State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, staunchly defended the distribution of the 2024 budget across diverse sectors of the economy.
In the breakdown of funds, a noteworthy N13 billion has been assigned to support the activities of the Office of the Secretary to the State Government, and a concise N100 million has been set aside exclusively for the Ministry of Tourism and its affiliated agencies.
In a session with journalists held in Jos on Friday, Dawam not only provided a comprehensive breakdown of the budget estimates but also brought to light that the Government House secured N8.6 billion, with the legislative arm receiving a substantial N10.14 billion.
Caleb Mutfwang, the state governor, officially signed the 2024 budget into law in December. Prior to this, the state House of Assembly had endorsed the budget, allocating N162 billion for recurrent expenditures and N152 billion for capital investments.
Providing insight, the commissioner clarified that the N13 billion allocated to the SGS office would be utilized for both administrative and capital purposes. The overarching objective of the ‘Budget of New Beginning’ is to establish a sturdy foundation for the state’s peace and prosperity.
Dawam said, ‘The government has allocated the sum of N100m only for representing 0.07 % of the total estimate for tourism activities in the state.’
‘I cannot tell you that specific amount has been allocated to security because that is under classified but the intention and desire of the government is to address the current security challenges of the state as well as infrastructural and human capital development deficit within available resources.’
Read also: Plateau Communities In Shambles 12 Days After Terror
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Budget, Peter Lamba added, ‘The office of the Secretary to the State Government coordinates a lot of activities and of course, part of the fund allocated to it will go into addressing the security challenge we have.’
A breakdown of other sectoral allocations showed that the agricultural and rural development subsector was allocated the sum of N12.04 bn while the Commerce and Industries subsector got N134.6m
The detailed allocation also showed that the information and communications subsector got N1.1 bn; the Land and Justice sub-sector, N7.02bn; Science and Technology, N772 m; Land and Survey, N335.5 m; Housing and Urban Development, N9.9 bn; Education, N10.4 bn; Health, N5.4 bn; Works and Transport, N15.3 bn; Women, Youths and Sports sub-sector, N1.3 bn among others.
The commissioner pressed for compliance, urging all government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to rigorously follow the essential principles of budget implementation during the fiscal year.
The commissioner reiterated the importance of the state’s fiscal, transparency, and sustainability framework, emphasizing its key role. He urged compliance, underscoring its significance in enabling the state to access grants set aside by the federal government in the common pool, contingent on performance.