REMARKS BY THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CITIZENS PARTICIPATION AGAINST CORRUPTION INITIATIVE, COMRADE BISHIR DAUDA SABUWAR UNGUWA KATSINA AT A ROUNDTABLE ON KATSINA STATE BUDGET ORGANIZED ON THURSDAY, 10TH JULY, 2025.
Assalamu Alaikum, It is an honour for me to welcome you to this all important conversation on the 2025 budget of Katsina state.
At the beginning, I want to remind us that the last time majority of us here did anything related to the budget of Katsina state was during the public hearing conducted by Katsina state House of Assembly. I am sorry to say that this has become our tradition. I have noticed as a citizen that there is lack of genuine interest in budget, on the part of even the civil society organizations. Even during the last public hearing on budget in Katsina state,the number of non-profit organizations that attended was low.
So, it is the objective of this forum to increase the participation of community and the civil society organizations in budget process. We should participate from the beginning to the end. And we should add value to the process.
Katsina state government is currently implementing its 2025 budget tagged: “Building Your Future ll.” The 2025 approved budget for Katsina state is Six Hundred and Nine-Two Billion,Two Hundred and Forty-Four Million, Four Hundred and Forty-Nine Thousand, Five Hundred and Thirteen Naira, Eighty-Seven Kobo Only (N692,244,449,513.87).
The problem affecting budget process not only in Katsina state, but in the developing world is poor implementation.
Now the citizens will definitely want to know the performance of 2025 budget. When I checked the website of Katsina state government, I saw they have uploaded the Performance Report for the first quarter of the fiscal year.
The target revenue for the Q1 is around 173bn. However from what is posted on the website, Katsina state has only generated 64bn. A shortfall of over one hundred billion naira. Out of this 64bn generated from January to March 2025, 59bn is from FAAC. It is also reported that Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) falls below target, 9.3% instead of 25%.
If this trend continues in every quarter, Katsina state government will only be able to generate less than half of its projected revenue of over six hundred billion Naira for this financial year. And without revenue, the budget cannot be financed.
In contrast, in the 2024 fiscal year, Katsina state has achieved 73% revenue performance and 66.4% expenditure performance. In fact by the first quarter of the 2024, the internal revenue generated was 4.8bn.
Notwithstanding, taking into consideration the massive infrastructural projects executed across the state by Dikko Radda administration from 2023 to date, one cannot dispute the fact that there is significant improvement in budget implementation in Katsina state. Some of the reforms introduced by the administration for effective and efficient budget implementation include: Treasury Single Account (TSA), digitizing tax collection, serious project monitoring and evaluation, setting up institutions such as Katsina State Public Complaints and Anti-corruption commission, Fiscal Responsibility Commission. The oversight by Katsina state House of Assembly, Civil Society Organizations and the media.
I want conclude my remarks by asking this question: How can we achieve 100% budget performance in Katsina state?
