The Gombe State House of Assembly has commended Gov. Ibrahim Dankwambo’s efforts on the implementation of the 2014 budget.
Alhaji Inuwa Garba, Speaker of the House gave the commendation during the 2015 budget defence by Ministries, Departments and Agencies on Wednesday in Gombe.
He said that the budget had received a very serious attention and it was translated into action that impacted much on the socio economic development of the state.
According to him, it is now time for the state government to look toward the enhancement of its internally generated revenue base, for the development of the state.
“The oil price seems to be on a downward trend, day-by-day and it is what the entire nation depends on.
“This is a very serious problem, as it affected the economy of every part of our social life.
He assured that the house committee on appropriation would look in to the budget for effective translation into law on time.
Alhaji Mohammed Adamu, who is the chairman of the committee, also solicited the support of the ministries for the success of the exercise, to enable the committee discharge their responsibilities effectively.
Defending his budget, Alhaji Mohammed Hassan, Commissioner for Finance, also expressed government’s readiness to ensure effective collection of internally-generated revenue in 2015.
He said that this would help government to provide more dividends of democracy to its people.
“The 2015 budget is very realistic because it was drafted with the state of the economy in mind, as the price of oil keeps on coming down.
“We hope that it will pick up later in the year,” he said.
Hassan said that the state government had a focus on diversifying the economy of the state, stressing that the sum of N750 million was recently disbursed as loan, to boost the economy of the state.
According to him, very soon, the government will also disburse N600 million loans to farmers to boost agriculture.
“In November last year, the Talban empowerment scheme had also provided 100 taxi caps to beneficiaries who, ordinarily cannot afford to buy a new car.
He said 200 tractors were also distributed to farmers and many other empowerment programs for the people in the state toward boosting the state’s economy.
Hassan said that government was not going to entirely rely on allocations from the federation account as it was doing a lot to enhance its internally-generated revenue.
NAN
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