The Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) has proposed the sum of ten billion, eighty-seven million, two hundred and twenty-eight thousand, two hundred and sixty-eight Naira (N10,087,228,268.00) to the council’s Legislative Council for consideration and approval for the 2021 financial year.
The AMAC Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu while presenting the 2021 Appropriation Bill said the total proposed estimates tagged: ‘Budget of Resilience’, represents a nominal increase of 10.4% above the previous year’s estimate of N8.7 billion.
Adamu disclosed that the budget was aimed at bringing dividends of democracy to the doorstep of every resident of the council, adding that despite the setbacks experienced by the Council in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, his administration remains committed to sustainable rural development.
The Chairman explained that the budget adopted the zero-based budgeting approach, which was a product of collaborative effort of relevant stakeholders, including the legislative, executive and all departments of the council.
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Giving a breakdown of the budget proposal, the AMAC chairman revealed that the sum of N5.71 billion had been allocated for capital expenditure, representing 56.67 percent of the budget, while recurrent expenditure would gulp N4.37 billion, representing 43.33 per cent.
Adamu added that the personnel cost would gulp N2.75 billion, representing 28.56 per cent, and N1.46 billion earmarked for overhead cost, representing 14.77 percent.
He said: “By allocating 56.67% of 2021 budget to capital projects, the council is also demonstrating its strong commitment to continue to develop our infrastructure across the 12 wards of the council.
“May I appeal to the Honourable members to expedite the legislative process for prompt passage of this Appropriation Bill in order to increase the resilience tempo with which we approach the 2021 fiscal year.”
Speaker of the AMAC Legislative Council, Abubakar Baushe, assured the Chairman and other stakeholders that the budget would be considered expeditiously.
He commended Adamu and promised that there would be efficient legislative action on the budget estimates so as to uplift the socio-economic needs of the people.
