On December 31, Kogi governor Idris Wada presented a proposed budget of N110.2bn ($598.7m) to the state House of Assembly for approval. It was prepared in line with International Public Accounting Standards (IPSAS).

Wada said N50bn ($271.8m) or 45.51% of the budget was for recurrent expenditure, while N60bn ($325m) or 54.49% was for capital expenditure.

He told the House of Assembly that expenditure outlay was focused administration, economic, law and justice and social services.

The governor added, however, that the specific objective of the 2015 budget was effective allocation of resources among critical programmes and projects.

These areas, according to the governor, include the completion of ongoing projects, expansion of the state revenue base, provision of coded classifications for enhanced transparency and proper accounting in public expenditure.

Other areas include reduction of its state domestic debt profile, budgeting control mechanism at state and local government levels and building a conducive environment for investors and donor agencies to operate in.

He said: ‘I hereby present the 2015 Budget, titled “Budget of Stability”. This budget was prepared in line with International Public Accounting Standards (IPSAS) which outlined key initiatives and what is expected to be achieved by key spending ministries, departments and agencies in the state.’

Wada noted that the proposed budget was N18bn less than the 2014 budget and would be financed from ‘traditional sources of internally generated revenue, statutory revenue allocation, and reimbursement from the federation account as well as bond from capital market’.

In response, the Speaker of the House, Momohjimoh Lawal said: ‘As a measure to maximise scarce resources and stabilise 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.’