Stories by Matthew Denis
The leadership of labour unions in Kwara State have called on the state government to increase funds allocated to education and the agricultural sectors in the 2019 budget.
This is towards strengthening human capital resources and enhancing food productivity in the state.
The unions in separate interviews with this medium at the weekend, also faulted the state government for not capturing the proposed N30,000 minimum wage in the estimate.
They however suggested that there should be a supplementary budget to address the ‘lapses’.
The state Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Yekeen Agunbiade said,” It was observed that our new minimum wage of N30,000 was not reflected.
“Also, most of the capital projects of this year were sponsored by the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) which was not from this year’s budget.”
He advised the state government to release more funds to the ministries to make them more productive.
He, however, commended the state government for being one of the first states in the federation to present its budget
On his part, the Chairman of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Kolawole Olumoh kicked against the allocations to the education and agricultural sector in the 2019 budget.
According to him, the bedrock of any national development lies on the value attached to the educational status of the populace.
“The state government needs to review the budget by allocating more funds into the education sector.
“We’ll prefer more allocations to the education and agricultural sectors because development starts from the level of education and awareness of our people.
“Regarding agriculture, as far as the government is trying to diversify the economy, more funds should be devoted to the sector.
“However, implementation is the most important thing for the government to improve the state economy considering the fact that there will be a transition to new government. Training and retaining of personnel is also vital and I hope there will be supplementary budget to capture all these aspects next year,” he further said.
Recall that Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed last week Thursday presented a budget estimate of N157.405 billion for the 2019 fiscal year to the state House of Assembly.
The Governor who termed the budget “Budget of Consolidation and Prosperity,” noted that the budget would reflect his government’s determination to strengthen the state finances on a sustainable basis.
The government allocated a total sum of N77,720,474,77 with 49% for Recurrent Expenditure in the 2019 budget While the sum of N79,787, 784, 484, representing 51% for Capital Expenditure.
The Governor stressed that the 2019 budget would be expected to be financed through statutory allocation estimated at N49.9billion or 31 per cent of the revenue. Also, through the estimated Value Added Tax (VAT) receipt of N11.8 billion or 7.2 per cent as well as sundry revenue from the Federation Account estimated at N2.8 billion or 1.3 per cent of the revenue.
On the sectoral allocation, the Economic sector had the highest allocation of 34.6 per cent of the total budget, followed by the general public service sector with 22.6 per cent, education and health sectors had 18 per cent and 17.5 per cent of the budget, respectively.
