A bill for a law to appropriate the sum of N188,429,495,847.63 for the services of Sokoto State government for the year ending 31 December, 2022, on Wednesday passed second reading at the state assembly.

The development followed a motion moved by Bello Ambarura, the All Progressives Congress (APC) leader at the assembly.

Contributing to the motion, Malami Basakkwace (PDP-Sokoto South II), who is the Chairman, House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, called on the lawmakers to consider the request to enable the assembly to pass the budget without delay.

The Deputy Speaker, Abubakar Magaji, who presided over the sitting, referred the bill to the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation for further legislative action as the members unanimously adopted the motion in a voice vote.

Governor Aminu Tambuwal had presented the budget to the assembly on November 15.

Tagged “Budget of accomplishments and sustainable development”, the budget is lower than that of 2021 (N205,016,512,295.41) by N16,587,016,447.78, consisting both the recurrent and capital expenditures approved by the assembly.

According to Mr Tambuwal, the 2022 budget proposal consists of recurrent expenditure of N75,871,203,284.34, representing 40.3 per cent, while the sum of N112,558,292,563.29, representing 59.7 per cent, remain capital expenditure of the total estimate.

Meanwhile the assembly has extended a recommendation letter to the governor for his commitment and dedication to making provision for the best service in the state.

The members adopted the recommendation while debating on the general principles of the state 2022 budget address by Mr Tambuwal.

They lauded the governor for his focus towards presenting a realistic budget that will address various sectors of human development in the state.

(NAN)