VAT war between FG, Rivers, other states affects our 2022 budget proposal ― Bauchi govt

Briefing journalists shortly after a special State Executive Council meeting held on Friday, the State Commissioner of Budget and Economic Planning, Aminu Hammayo said that the SEC has adopted the budget proposal based on the submission made by the various stakeholders.

The Commissioner said that State Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir will in the coming weeks present the proposed budget before the Bauchi State House of Assembly for approval noting that government will focus on completing all ongoing projects next year rather than embarking on new ones.

He said that “We will look at those things that we consider critical to guide us in the budget. While It would be premature to state the amount of the budget at this stage, we considered a lot of things in arriving at our projections as to the proposed budget.”

He added that “We based our assumptions on the oil production benchmark at 1.9 billion barrels per day. We also assumed that the crude oil price would remain at 57 dollars per barrel.”

According to the Commissioner, “The fight between the Federal government and Rivers/Lagos as to who is responsible for collecting VAT was taken into consideration and that has affected our projection. We have also defined what our priorities are. Our focus is to try to complete every project that has been started. New projects will only be considered where they become absolutely necessary.”

He however assured that “We don’t intend to take any loan facility to fund the budget unless it becomes absolutely necessary and it must be to fund critical areas of infrastructural development. Efforts are geared towards repaying the debt hanging on the neck of the state.”

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