Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina State has signed the state’s 2026 Appropriation Bill of N897 billion into law, three weeks after presenting the proposed budget before the state House of Assembly.
Assenting to the Bill at the Government House in Katsina before members of the state House of Assembly, the governor commended the lawmakers for the speedy passage of the budget while assuring them of its strict implementation.
He explained that 82 percent of the total budget was set aside for capital expenditure while 18 percent was earmarked for recurrent expenditure, a ratio which he said outperforms the benchmark set by an earlier law which requires the recurrent expenditure not to exceed 30 percent.
“Of all the budgets passed in this state, the 2026 budget has the lowest percentage of recurrent expenditure. During the administration of Late Umaru Musa Yaradua as governor in this state, a law was passed to ensure that the state’s budget does not have a recurrent expenditure that exceeds 30 percent.
“But today, we have outperformed that requirement, and we now have a budget that has earmarked 18 percent for recurrent expenditure, therefore we are not deviating from his legacy”, he said.
Governor Radda who described the budget as a “people’s budget” explained that it was compiled from the inputs made during town hall meetings held across the 361 wards in this state in line with the participatory governance approach of his administration.
While commending members of the State House of Assembly for maintaining a smooth working relationship with the Executive Arm, the governor urged various house committees to carry out the oversight duty to ensure that the budget was implemented to the letter.
Earlier, while presenting the appropriation bill before the governor for assent, Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Alhaji Nasir Yahaya, said the members vetted and passed the budget within three weeks making Katsina the first to have an appropriation law for the 2026 fiscal year.
Isma’il Adamu
