Zulum signs Borno’s 2021 budget, vows to invest more in agribusiness

The Borno State governor, Babagana Zulum, on Monday reiterated his readiness to prioritize wealth creation through agribusiness to address poverty and restiveness among the returnees and displaced persons in the state.

He stated that his administration’s willingness to recruit new judges and judicial administrative staff to strengthen the state judicial system to enable it to dispense justice and to help boost revenue generation.

Zulum who made this known while signing into law the 2021 appropriation bill passed into law in Maiduguri on Monday, charged all ministries, agencies and departments to comply strictly with the provisions of the 2021 appropriation law.

He also directed his cabinet members to accelerate activities in their respective ministries for the people of Borno to derive maximum benefit.

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The state house of assembly had earlier increased the budget from N208 billion to N248 billion, explaining that the increase was to cater for industrial projects including the Borno plastic industry as well as the Maiduguri International Hotel.

Zulum had in his initial presentation to the state house of assembly proposed N135.1billion for capital projects and N72 billion for recurrent expenditures.

He said: “The judiciary is very important. without a proper judicial system, the two arms of government will never function effectively. We will look into the possibility of recruiting more judges and employing more administrative staff into our judicial system.

“My main concern in the year 2021 will be focused on the improvement of security, inject more money in agriculture, education, healthcare, provision of potable water as well as reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement of internally displaced persons and refugees”, Zulum said.

Zulum expressed appreciation to the leadership and members of the Borno State House of Assembly for their cooperation with the executive arm.

Borno’s attorney general and Commissioner for Justice, Kaka Shehu Lawan who conducted the signing ceremony, noted that the Governor’s assent was a constitutional requirement for the bill passed by the assembly to become the law of the state.