Full text of speech delivered by the speaker of Kogi state House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Aliyu Umar Yusuf, during the presentation of 2024 Budget By Governor Yahaya Bello on the floor of the house, Monday 11th of November 2023.

PROTOCOLS:

In the name of God, the beneficent, the most merciful. I want first and foremost thank the Almighty Allah for giving us the opportunity to witness this all-important day. On behalf of members of the 8th Kogi State House of Assembly and the staff, I hereby express my sincere gratitude to the Executive Governor of the state, Alhaji Yahaya Adoza Bello, CON, for taking the time out of the exhausting demands of his Office to undertake this democratic tradition of presenting and laying the budget estimates for the 2024 fiscal year before us. Your Excellency Sir, your presence in this hallowed chamber today is indeed historic, not only because it represents your last budget address to this Assembly as the Executive Governor, but also because it is my first time to have the honour of hosting you for the purpose of receiving draft budget estimate from the executive. Your Excellency, Sir, you are indeed a leader and builder of men. You are a man whose unique leadership capacity we are going to miss in the state. Be that as it may, I have no iota of doubt that the incoming Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo will consolidate on the template you have set since your assumption of office and take it to the next level with renewed hope and vigour to better the lot of our people. Let me emphasise that the presentation of a budget estimate to the legislature by the executive is a crucial aspect of the fiscal and governance processes in any democratic system.

2. Your Excellency, sir, distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen; you will agree with me that the current administration in the state has recorded remarkable achievements in ensuring a robust and fruitful relationship between the Executive and legislature in a way that even the opposition have become more envious of the progress being recorded under the humane and people-centered leadership of the Governor. Without any fear of contradiction, I must state that the various sectors of the state’s economy have observed improved infrastructural development, in addition to the investment we are seeing in critical sectors that have direct bearing on the lives of Kogi citizens. Whether it is education, security, healthcare, improved rural infrastructure, employment creation, women and youth empowerment, peaceful coexistence among various ethnic groups in the state, improved welfare for our urban and rural dwellers, social protection for citizens, improved synergy among the various components in the system and other areas of endevours, your impact, sir, is obvious for all to see. Your government has been able to develop a comprehensive blueprint for the new phase of the state’s development, and I want to assure you that the executive would enjoy the necessary legislative support to ensure the strategic objectives of the administration are achieved. The parliament, without any shred of doubt, plays critical roles in shaping the fiscal curve of the state and I want to further assure you that this Assembly is committed to supporting the executive arm to achieve improved economy for Kogi State in the years to come.
3. At this juncture, let me congratulate and thank Your Excellency, on behalf of my colleagues, for demonstrating a rare leadership quality by leading the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to victory in the November 11th gubernatorial election in the state. While it is sad that you are not here to lead us in the management and directly benefitting from of our sweet victory, we are consoled by the fact that you have an equally capable successor in Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, who has been one of the leading lights of your government in the last eight years. I should say I will miss you dearly, but I would not be wrong to say the entire State House of Assembly and the people of the state would miss you very much. I also know that you would make yourself available to us from time to time whenever we need to pick from your administrative reservoir of knowledge. Again, let me also thank you specially for investing hugely in this Assembly edifice which is aimed at creating a GYB Standard Complex that is world class in all its facets. We thank you for making that record possible even in the twilight of your tenure; you are indeed a man of taste and class, and we appreciate you for the architectural masterpiece.
4. Added to your touch of excellence in infrastructural development, Your Excellency, are policies designed to bring succor to the yearnings of Kogi citizens. Some of such policies have been so visionary that it is fitting to describe you as a man ahead of his contemporaries in many ramifications. One of such matters that elicited this view is your decision to support the issue of autonomy for other arms of government, especially the state legislature and the judiciary. While other states are still battling on the issue of establishment of Assembly Service Commission, you have graciously established and constituted same in Kogi State. You did not stop there; you have also funded the management law of the House of Assembly, all with a view to granting autonomy to the legislature in the state. This is unprecedented.
5. My Governor, Our Governor, Sir, I may have spent just a few months as the Speaker of the Assembly, but I have had the opportunity to go through some documents left behind by my predecessors and I am amazed by the many executive bills you have sponsored that have culminated in the creation of enterprises, commissions, boards, agencies and others. These agencies have created employment opportunities for many of our people and revolutionized the economic architecture of the state. Kogi State Enterprise Development Agency (KEDA) is one of such bodies that easily come to mind in view of what the agency is doing in encouraging small scale enterprises and ensuring the surfacing of other medium and semi-large business outfits. Kogi State Youth Development Commission, Kogi State House of Assembly Service Commission, the Kogi State Senior Secondary School Board Establishment Law just passed first reading on the floor of the house. I could go on and on.
6. Your Excellency, one of the areas even your harshest critics cannot fault you is in the area of education. How can I forget when one of the first bills I ever attended to upon my emergence as speaker was an executive bill which sought to establish the Kogi State University, Kabba? Not only have we successfully passed the bill into law, but you have also assented to it and will matriculate the first set of students before your exit from office, Insha Allah. This was after you had also successfully established the Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara, and overhauled the Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba. In fact, no higher institution in the state has failed to experience your magic touch since assumption of office eight years ago, including my alma mater, the Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja. Your mark has also touched the education sector at the levels of Colleges of Education, Secondary and Primary Schools in numerous ways that it would take me quite some time to finish mentioning them. So, thank you, Sir.
7. Your Excellency, your footprint in the security sector is so legendary that I would just allow your numerous awards to speak for themselves. I will do same on the issue of infrastructure because we are having one of the best flyover bridges in North Central Nigeria for the first time since creation of the state over thirty years ago. In all, we say thank you for being the father of modern Kogi State.
8. To the budget presentation proper, Our Governor Sir, this event serves as a key mechanism through which the government communicates its financial plans and priorities to the legislative branch, seeking approval and support for its proposed expenditures and revenue-raising measures. The importance of this presentation is that it allows the legislators and the public to understand how taxpayers’ money is to be allocated and spent. By presenting a comprehensive breakdown of revenue sources and proposed expenditures, you are demonstrating your resolve towards ensuring accountability for your financial decisions in order to foster public trust which is one of the tenets of a democratic society.
9. Kogi is at a threshold of a new administration under the leadership of Alhaji Ahmed Ododo, and it is a historic moment being the second time a sitting governor has successfully handed over to another one elected within his party. This Assembly believes that we must create a path for him to have smooth sailing, and we are determined to ensure the state’s citizens smile in 2024 and beyond. I have no doubt that the current administration wants to finish strong by ensuring it measure up to the expectations of Kogites.
10. Consequently, Your Excellency, My Colleagues, Esteem Guests, the budget to be laid before this Assembly today is expected to be a reflection of the resolve of the people of the state to address their critical needs. While I understand the resource constraints we face as a state which is not peculiar to us, I hope the budget would prioritise investment in the future of the state by consolidating and solidifying the areas the state has recorded positive gains and areas of advantage.
11. My Governor, Our Governor, sir, dignitaries at this event and members of the Assembly, the need for the overhauling of the state’s fiscal policy cannot be overstressed in view of the continued dwindling of our resources. You will agree with me that the habit of wholesomely or largely depending on the Federation Allocation is no longer feasible as it is affecting the ability and preparedness of government to provide effective governance. It is high time we explore alternative means of funding the budget. This could be in the form of expanding government tax net, blocking leakages, centralized revenue generation, and ensuring that other means of gathering revenues are explored to enable government provide provide essential services to the citizens.
12. Our ability as government to function effectively depends on the trust we are able to gain from our constituents. In doing this, this Assembly is prepared to work closely with our people to ensure they buy into the tenets of this budget by getting their input. While we may have, at the top of our heads, ideas about some of their needs, we believe that hearing from our constitients once more would bring about understanding of local needs and ensure we tailor our scrutiny towards what suits our people.
13. With the collaboration we are enjoying with the executive, I know we have been able to take care of most of the things we would have wanted to make enquiries about, we assure you, Your Excellency, that the incoming administration would enjoy even a better synergy for the growth and progress of the state.
14. While assuring our constituents and the people of the state of close working relationship in thoroughly examining the new budget before its passage, I seek the cooperation of heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government in ensuring due diligence is done to give the document accelerated passage.
15. Your Excellency, and other Guests, permit me to state on behalf of my colleagues that we are committed towards the progress of the state and therefore, ready to drop everything on our tables to ensure we concentrate on crossing the necessary Tees and dotting the I’s to ensure this budget is passed in record time for the growth and development of the state.
16. I want to thank you all for listening and pray to Almighty God to continue to protect Kogi State and her citizens and guide us to better and more prosperous state.
17. May I now, onbehalf of the distinguished Honourable Members of this House, invite Your Excellency to address this august House and thereafter lay the proposed 2024 budget estimates before the House.
    YourExcellency, Sir.