State House target projects completion in N15 billion budget proposal

The permanent secretary, State House, Jalal Arabi, yesterday said the over N15 billion 2018 budget proposals of the state house will focus on completion of all on-going projects. Giving this indication when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Special Duties to defend the 2018 budget proposals and the utilization of the 2017 budget releases, he said several ongoing projects have been stalled or delayed due to funding constraints.

A statement signed by Attah Esa, a Deputy Director of Information and made available yesterday, quoted the Permanent Secretary as saying that the budget proposals were anchored to deliver on Nigeria’s Economic Growth and Recovery Plan (EGRP) 2018-2020, adding that the budget ‘‘will maximize scarce resources in a manner that we function optimally and ensure that security of the State House is not compromised.”

He urged the Committee to note that the State House administration caters for the offices of the President, the Vice President, the Chief of Staff, the Chief Security Officer to the President, the State House Medical Centre and the State House Liaison office in Lagos. The State House budget proposal for 2018 is N15, 479,178,778 for capital and recurrent expenditure.

Chairman, House Committee on Special Duties, Nasir Sani Zangon-Daura, described the State House as the nerve-centre of the nation, adding that there was need to be fair in the allocation of resources so that it can effectively service the strategic offices located therein.