Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has released
details of the state’s expenditure, as well as security votes.
This comes as a response to Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, who had called on Governors to release their
expenditure.
A statement issued by El-Rufai’s spokesman, Samuel Aruwan,
on Monday read: “Our attention has been drawn to a challenge by Hon. Yakubu
Dogara, Speaker of the House of Representatives, calling on Kaduna State to
make public its security votes and local government expenditure.
“This challenge was thrown as a response to Governor Nasir
El-Rufai’s request to the national assembly (NASS) to provide further details
on the opaque N115 billion 2016 NASS budget. Malam Nasir El-Rufai welcomes this
challenge as a necessary step to improve and strengthen our democracy and would
like to respond as follows:
“The budgets of all state governments in Nigeria are
detailed out and presented at least under the headings of:
a. personnel cost
b. overhead, and
c. capital expenditure
a. personnel cost
b. overhead, and
c. capital expenditure
“This is unlike the budget of the national assembly which is
a single line item of over N100 billion that divulges zero information or
details. NASS can at least break down its own single line budget into the
hundreds of line items that are detailed in every state government budget in
Nigeria. It is disingenuous to respond to every request for transparency by
casting aspersions.”
The governor added that Dogara would not have asked him to
publish security votes if he had done his search “very well”.
He said last year his government published not just its own
budget but those of all the 23 local governments in the state.
“On our part, the Kaduna state government has consistently
made public all its budget details. In 2016, in an unprecedented step, the
state published not only its own budget, but also that of all the 23 local
government councils online on the www.openkaduna.com.ng website,” he said.
“The local government budgets provide details of the
recurrent and capital spending of every single LG in a transparent manner. The
proposed 2017 LG budgets, currently before the state assembly, are also already
online on the same website, and on www.kdsg.gov.ng. Approved state budgets
2016-2017 can be found onhttp://openkaduna.com.ng/Budget/approved-budget. We
invite the right honourable speaker to download and peruse at his pleasure.
“As regards Kaduna state security votes, once again, if the
honourable speaker had run an online search he would have discovered the
details of our spending priorities on security as a state government. As our
Kaduna Comprehensive Security Architecture (KADCoSA) outlines, the state is
directing security spending on four pillars; justice, technology, community
engagement and support to security agencies.”
“The 2017 budget details specific amounts:
“a. N1.5bn (one and half billion naira) for the procurement
& installation of CCTV cameras for monitoring and surveillancetowards
Reducing Criminal Activities within the Metropolis.
“b. N193m (one hundred and ninety-three million naira) for Procurement of
Geo-position Interceptor and location of GSM UMTS System to Check the Trends
andIntercept/locate kidnappers’ GSM calls.
“c. N265m (two hundred and sixty-five million naira) for the
Procurement of Drones/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to identify locations of
armed bandits in our Forest Reserves across the state and the Establishment of a
Forensic Laboratory to assist in determining substantial evidence in cases that
otherwise proved difficult in the past.
d. In addition, N2.6bn (two billion and six hundred million naira) is allocated
in 2017 to support the network of federal Security Agencies in Kaduna with
communications, logistics and materiel.
“Details of actual spending in 2015 for security and indeed
every line item in the state budgets are also publicly available via the annual
report of the accountant-general accessible on www.kdsg.gov.ng.
“The 2015 accounts of the Kaduna State Government have been
audited, and the audit summary published in major newspapers and on the state
website on 21st June 2016. The Accountant-General’s report for 2016 has been
finalized and its audit is ongoing and will be published as usual. The audited
state government accounts can also be found
onhttp://openkaduna.com.ng/Budget/audited.
“The Kaduna state government will continue to remain
transparent and open in all its finances. That is what we have promised to all
our people and that is what our party, the APC and our president stand for.”
He also released details of his pay slip.
“Malam Nasir El-Rufai is today making publicly available his
pay-slip as Governor of Kaduna State. In February 2017, the Kaduna State
Government paid the Governor a net salary of N470,521.74, with the following
details:
Income
Deductions
Basic Salary
N185,308.75
Deductions
Basic Salary
N185,308.75
Hardship Allowance
N370,617.50
N370,617.50
Gross Pay
N555,926.25
N555,926.25
PAYE
N85,404.51
Total Deduction
N85,401.51
Net Pay
N470,521.74
N470,521.74
“The amount may appear puny but it reflects what the Revenue
Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission approved as the salary and
allowances of every state governor adjusted to reflect provision in-kind of
accommodation and transportation.
“Governor Nasir El-Rufai would like to reiterate his call
for the NASS leadership to do the same and disclose the details of the National
Assembly budget, and the salaries and allowances of its leadership.
“The call to #OpenNASS is not a personal one. It is one
which the leadership of the national assembly owes to all Nigerians. It is
therefore disingenuous for the speaker to use state government budgets as the
excuse for the opacity of the NASS budget. There is no state government in
Nigeria with a budget nearly as opaque as that of NASS. In March 2016, this
national assembly, led by its chairman, promised to provide a detailed
breakdown of the national assembly budget. Nigerians are waiting.”
By Ifreke Inyang
