•We've delivered on key campaign promises: AbdulRazaq

•Says outlooks in education, health, rural-urban devt, business climate far better

•Speaker commends AbdulRazaq for giant strides across sectors, workers' welfare

Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Wednesday laid the 2023 budget estimates before the state parliament, restating the administration's commitment to inclusive growth.

The size of the 2023 budget is N189,436,248,054.00, with a recurrent expenditure of 49.1% and capital component of 50.9%, he said. "This is a budget of economic expansion and sustainable development," the Governor said, adding that the fiscal document focuses on strengthening the current gains and is built around the Kwara State Sustainable Development Plan 2021-2030, Medium Term Sector Strategy 2021-2023 and citizens' need Assessments.

"Today, I stand before this Honourable House to present the 2023 Appropriation Bill. This fiscal document is as significant in its provisions as it is in expanding the gains of the past three years for maximum socioeconomic benefits of the state," according to the Governor.

"With the support of this House and the good people of Kwara State, our government has delivered on key campaign promises in education, healthcare delivery, provision of potable water, agriculture, poverty reduction, gender mainstreaming, youth and women empowerment, financial inclusion, workers' welfare, infrastructure, and rural urban development.

"Under us, Kwara has shed horrible indices and broken new positive grounds across development sectors. This is all due to our commitments to inclusive growth.

"Of particular interest are the recent positive data on healthcare delivery, poverty rate, unemployment rate, and fiscal management of the state. All of these show that Kwara is a lot better today than we met it.

"I'm glad to report that our investment in the premier hospital has earned the state university an accreditation to begin Medicine and Surgery for the first time.

"In the outgoing fiscal year, we expanded economic opportunities for the people and executed many impactful projects and programmes across sectors, while many are near completion.

"The commencement of the KwaraLEARN initiative has raised school attendance by 43% in four pilot local government areas of Baruten, Ilorin East, Ilorin West, and Offa. We have delivered a new waterworks at Dumagi, new and well-equipped Dental, Eye, Renal, ICU facilities, and an expansive new ward.

"The Garment Factory, Visual Arts Centre, Innovation Hub, General Tunde Idiagbon Bridge, Osi-Obbo Aiyegunle Road, Adeta-Yebumot-AlHikmah University Road, Ilesha Gwanara Road, Osi and Ilesha Baruba Campuses of KWASU, Oro General Hospital, Jebba Waterworks, among others, are all near completion.

"For the first time, we are 90% set to deliver a game-changing Electronic Management System (EMS) for our hospitals in Ilorin, Kaiama, and Offa. We have also completed the first radio station in Kwara North and 39 Digital Literacy Centres across the state."

The Governor said the new budget places more emphases on continuous infrastructural development, completion of ongoing road projects, agribusinesses, irrigation and mechanisation, workers' welfare, rural electrification, and improved water reticulation, among others. In the new year, the RAAMP road projects will begin full steam.

"So is the special agroprocessing zone that is supported by development agencies. In the new year, we will also implement the National Programme on Food Security (NPFS) and Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment, among others," he added "Its key assumptions are oil price of 70 US Dollars per barrel; daily oil production estimate of 1.69m barrel per day; exchange rate of N435 to one United States Dollar; GDP growth of 3.75%; and inflation rate of 17.16%.

"Funding windows include the federal allocations, internally generated revenue (IGR), grants, and other capital receipts."

Chaired by Rt. Hon. Speaker Yakubu Salihu Danladi, the budget presentation session was attended by Deputy Governor Kayode Alabi; representative of the Chief Judge Justice Olalekan Adegbite; Acting Grand Kadi Justice Abdullateef Kamaldeen; House members; cabinet members led by Secretary to the State Government Prof. Mamman Sabah Jibril; first class and other senior monarchs; top government officials and senior senior civil servants; and All Progressives Congress chieftains led by Chairman Prince Sunday Fagbemi; among others.

The Speaker commended the Governor for his efforts to steadily bridge the huge infrastructural gap in the state and for his focus on workers' welfare, provision of basic amenities, and prudent management of public resources.

He assured AbdulRazaq of the readiness of the House to ensure timely passage of the budget after careful scrutiny as constitutionally required for the benefit of the people of Kwara State.

"Your Excellency deserves commendation for sustaining the zeal to fulfilling the obligations to the state by paying counterpart funds in all sectors. The result of this is visible to all as the state has since gone back to light and the people of the state are now better for it," he said.

"It is a thing of joy to note that the efforts of this present government at ensuring transparency, accountability and fiscal discipline in government business are enjoying applause from within and outside the state."

Rafiu Ajakaye
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor
November 30, 2022