Mr John Gabaya, the Chairman of the Bwari Area Council of the FCT, on Wednesday, presented a budget of N22 billion for 2024 to the council’s legislature for approval.
Speaking at the ceremony, Gabaya said that the budget was made up of N14.9 billion in capital expenditure and N7.1 billion recurrent expenditure.
He gave the sectoral allocations of the budget to include Works and Housing, N8.8 billion, Health and Human Services, N2.1 billion, Education and Social Development, N1.3 billion and Agriculture and Natural Resources, N1.6 billion.
The chairman said that the focus of the budget was the completion of all ongoing projects.
He said that the budget would be funded through the FCT statutory allocation and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
“It is pertinent to assure here that we shall continue to be up and doing in trying to expand our internal capacity to fund our budget to a greater degree.
“Our investment in infrastructure and other economic projects such as the Kubwa Phase 3 Ultra-Modern Building Material Market and Ushafa Farmers Market & Garden is a wise strategy in this regard.
“In 2023, we set up a committee to verify and issue subscribers of some of the Public-Private -Partnership (PPP) markets with relevant title documents.
“Through this medium, we hope to establish and determine the number of shops in these markets and ensure shop owners pay appropriate revenue to the coffers of the government,’’ he said.
He added: “In this way, we are hopeful of raising our IGR profile to augment our statutory allocations to fund our budget implementation efforts.’
’The chairman added that his administration had since 2023 embarked on massive investment in infrastructure across the 10 wards of the council.
“It is therefore our plan and resolve to consolidate this momentum by not only completing all ongoing projects within the scheduled time frame but to initiating and completing new complementary ones, ” he said.
In his remarks, the Speaker of the legislature, Mr Dogara Ahmed, assured of speedy consideration of the budget.
He described the 2024 budget as a reflection of the collective resolve of the executive and legislative to address the crucial needs of the people.
This, he added, was with the hope of achieving economic growth, infrastructure development, jobs and wealth creation, youth empowerment and poverty alleviation.
Ahmed also said that the budget was expected to eliminate economic hardship being faced by the people due to the removal of fuel subsidies by the Federal Government.
He said that the council was working with relevant stakeholders to curb the security challenges being faced in the area. (NAN)
