NATIONAL: North-East governors kick against ‘paltry’ allocation in 2021 budget proposal

GOVERNORS in the North-East have rejected the 2021 budget proposal of the Federal Government claiming that the region has been short-changed in the proposed capital projects for next year.

The governors urged the National Assembly to review the budget in the spirit of equity and inclusion.

Giving the reason for their rejection, they said the N45.3b allocated to the region, out of a total of 13.02tn, is paltry.

The governors’ grievances were contained in a communiqué issued after a meeting in Yola, the Adamawa State capital on Friday.

“This (budgetary allocation) represents a paltry 0.35 per cent of the proposed N13.02tn. This means that North-East is highly short-changed,” the communiqué read in part.

The governors further stated that the North-East region had been unfairly treated in the provision of road infrastructure by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, while bemoaning the slow or outright non-existent progress on the pace of work on the roads already awarded, and called for the immediate reactivation and review of the comatose road contracts in the sub-region.

They also decried the lack of budgetary provision in respect of the Mambilla hydro project in the 2021 budgetary proposals and called on the Federal Government to make the project a matter of serious priority by resolving all encumbrances around the project.

The communiqué read, “Forum critically examined the challenges of education in the sub region and resolved to adopt a regional approach by being deliberate on transforming education, especially at the basic level. Forum also agreed to form the North-East Council on Education.

“The forum said despite relative improvement in the security situation in the sub-region, the activities of Boko Haram, bandits, cattle rustlers and kidnappers still constitute a threat to sustainable development.”