The Niger State House of Assembly on Wednesday passed the 2012 appropriation bill of N94.05 billion into law, up by N3.5 billion from N90.53 billion proposal submitted by Gov Babangida Aliyu.
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Alhaji Usman Magaji, the chairman of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, told the plenary session that the increase in the estimates was because more money was allocated to education and health sectors.
He said that the sectors were critical to the rapid development of the state, and had to increase their allocation, so that they could render their services adequately.
He said that the various committees of the House did thorough jobs during the budget defense by various ministries, departments and agencies.
This, according to him, accounted for the delay in completing the legislative work on the bill.
Magaji said that the lawmakers dropped the N400 million initially allocated to leisure and gymnastics, as the projects were not considered to be important.
Giving a summary of the budget, the chairman said that while N44.314 billion has been voted for recurrent expenditures, the capital expenditures took N49 billion.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Mohammad Dada, the Majority Leader, commended the committee for a job well done after which, members present at the plenary, considered the bill, clause by clause, leading to its final passage.
While, the Speaker, Mr Mohammad Tsowa directed the Clerk to the Assembly to communicate the passage to the executive arm for its implementation.? (NAN)