Seriki Adinoyi in Jos
Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang has presented a N295,434,568,464 appropriation bill to the State House of Assembly.
The appropriation tagged ‘The Budget of New Beginnings’ surpassed the 2023 budget of 145,483,233,873.
In 2023, the appropriation passed by the Assembly was N149,951,334,591.
Speaking on the 2024 proposed budget, the Governor said it consists recurrent component of N157,563,316,462, which was 53.33 per cent of the total budget size, and capital estimate of N137,871,251,992.00, representing 46.66 per cent of the total budget estimate.
He said the proposed budget was aimed at laying a solid foundation for the peace and prosperity of the state, adding that the vision and mission of the present administration was to intervene in the area of security, agriculture, human capital development, public health, industrialisation and aggressive revenue generation.
He said, “As we are all aware that the State went through numerous challenges in recent years, especially in the area of insecurity; it becomes incumbent on us as a government to intensify efforts to curtail the ugly situation in the best interest of the state, so that citizens lives and properties can be secured.
“To this end, the present administration has designed several strategies in collaboration with security agencies to address the situation. However, citizens are encouraged to be vigilant in their respective domains and report any suspicious movement to relevant authorities for quick intervention.”
He added that the intention and desire of his administration was to address the current infrastructural and human capital development deficit of the state within available resources, adding that it will no longer be business as usual.
The governor said in order to ensure that government revenues are judiciously managed, the state Internal Revenue Service had been mandated to synergise and collaborate with all revenue-generating MDAs to ensure accountability and transparency in all processes.
He added: “By this development, citizens are therefore advised to as an obligation pay all their taxes to relevant authorities as at when due, to promote the spirit of teamwork in the system.”
