By Matthew Denis
The performance of the 2018 budget between January to May ending has been rated at 49.1 per cent.
The state Commissioner of Planning and Economic Development, Alhaji Wasiu Odewale made the disclosure during an interview with Pilot Business in Ilorin on Wednesday.
Recall that the state Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed on Friday 22 December, 2017 signed the 2018 budget of N190, 997,425, 571 as passed by the State House of Assembly into law.
He said: ” I want to look at the budget from the angle of revenue generation, Kwara State is among the few states in the federation that is performing fantastic.
“But if you look at the federal allocation to the state there is no month that the revenue is not dropping, including the last April.
“The performance of the 2018 budget is rated at 49.1 percent as we approach the end of this second quarter of the year. This is the aggregate though we have been confronted with low revenue inflow from the federal allocation.
“This issue of drop in federal allocation is beyond our control but we are being supported by the Internal Generated Revenue from the Kwara Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS),” he explained.
The Commissioner however called on the revenue agency to step up its performance so as to meet up with the N38 billion budget projections for the 2018.
He said ” I want to base my submission on my recent visit to Lagos state governor. I was told that for 2017 they projected N32 billion monthly, 2018 they are proposing N40 billion and 2019 N50 billion monthly.
“I want to go along that geometric projection that’s why when I was reviewing my budget I reviewed it from N33 billion in 2017 to N38 billion for them based on our understanding of the variables and perimeters that will allow us to perform.
” If there are obstacles while we are performing they must be solved off the ambit of the budget circle not by assumption since we are still in four months,” he explained.
Odewale also tasked all the Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to comply with budget targets for the 2018 year.
He added that the government is doing ‘fantastically well’ in terms of infrastructural development and works that are ongoing within the state.
“Look at the Spilt Diamond Underpass project is getting to about 60 percent completion. I’m assuring you that between now and June ending Kwarans will be surprised that the gigantic project is completed,” he further said.
