By: Monday Munkaila, Gombe
In preparation for the 2025 budget, Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, CON, has presided over a Citizens’ Engagement forum as part of his administration’s commitment to promoting transparency, accountability, and inclusive governance.
The interactive session, held on Saturday at the Jewel Hall in Gombe, gathered a wide range of stakeholders, including traditional rulers, community leaders, civil society organizations, faith-based groups, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and various community members. The meeting provided a platform for these diverse participants to deliberate on priority areas for the state’s 2025 budget.
The engagement, organized by the State Ministries Budget & Economic Planning and Finance and Economic Development, has been an annual tradition since Governor Inuwa Yahaya assumed office in 2019, reflecting his long-standing practice of involving stakeholders in shaping the budget to ensure it addresses the state’s pressing needs.
Speaking during the event, the Governor, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi, said his administration has placed high premium on inclusive governance and effective resources management, emphasizing it was for this reason that his government often welcome diverse perspective, innovative ideas, and strategic insights when formulating policies and programmes that drive economic growth and development in the state.
He added that his administration ensures participatory governance is enhanced, stating that “This is a significant step towards ensuring that the needs and aspirations of the people are prioritized in Government spending. By giving citizens a voice in the budgeting process, we have shown commitment to transparency and accountability in governance. The citizens’ nominated projects cover a wide range of areas, including infrastructure development, education, healthcare and agriculture. Without shredding a word, the journey so far has been fulfilling, because we are able to deliver on our mandate, and with your support, we will even do better.”
“So far, out of 71 nominated citizens’ project/programmes in 2024, 48 were included and have been executed in the 2024 Budget, representing 67.61%. Some of these projects, ongoing and completed are: road construction from Tashan Magarya – Emir’s Palace in Kumo town ongoing; rehabilitation of road linking Nafada town to Potiskum road completed; expansion of roads in Tumfure etc – ongoing; continuation of urban renewal project on going; provision of Solar Light at Gadam Town and other locations – most are completed, reconstruction of Nafada, Kaltungo LGA Secretariats – ongoing; reconstruction and renovation of Royal Palaces across all the LGAs ongoing; timely procurement and distribution of fertilizers to State farmers completed; erosion control projects across affected locations in the State – some completed while others ongoing; while others are schools and healthcare facilities construction, upgrade, renovation amongst others”, the Governor stated.
The Governor further reiterated that the priorities of his government will remain in the areas of health, education, water supply, housing, infrastructure, and rural development, stating that the administration has consistently maintained this focus, while assuring citizens that their input during the consultation will not be taken for granted, as the previous ones have guided decisions in the implementation of the previous budgets.
The Speaker of the Gombe State House of Assembly, Hon. Abubakar Mohammed Luggerewo, lauded the initiative, assuring the citizens that as usual, the legislature in collaboration with the executive, will do everything possible to ensure inputs presented at the citizens engagement are considered, and people oriented budget is approved by the legislature for implementation by the executive.
In his remarks, the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Salisu Baba Alkali, stated that the event served as a platform for discussing key strategies, priorities, and goals that would shape the state’s budget for the upcoming
year, highlighting the importance of transparent and accountable
budgeting processes, Stakeholder engagement, and sustainable economic
development.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Muhammad Gambo Magaji, highlighted the futuristic outlook of the state’s finances for the 2025 fiscal year, emphasizing that the current Tax Reform Bills, if passed into law, alongside the pegging of the official exchange rate of the dollar at N1,400, would lead to a 40% reduction in the state’s statutory VAT allocation while the exchange rate differential would decrease to less than N400 if the dollar trades between N1,700 and N1,750 on the parallel market.
He further urged the stakeholders to be mindful of the financial situation in the country and the current state of finances in Gombe State, based on the projections outlined, which show the possibility of the state’s monthly income decreasing in view of the current economic realities.
Chairman of the Gombe State House of Assembly Committee on Appropriations, Hon. Ali Baba Manu, expressed optimism about the process, stating that the engagement will give lawmakers a deeper understanding of the people’s priorities, which will guide them in scrutinizing and approving the budget to ensure equitable resource allocation across the 11 LGAs of the state.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Jalo Ibrahim Ali mni, urged the stakeholders to engage in robust discussions on key sectors in order to provide insights and recommendations as to what the 2025 budget should prioritize, assuring them that inputs from the meeting will form the basis for finalizing the 2025 budget for consideration by the State Executive Council before its presentation to the state lawmakers for scrutiny and passage as contained in a statement by Ismaila Uba Misilli, Director-General, (Press Affairs), Government House, Gombe.
