Sokoto Govt. proposes N27bn supplementary budget

 The Sokoto State Executive Council has approved a draft supplementary budget bill of N27 billion, which will be forwarded to the state assembly for ratification.This is contained in a statement issued to newsmen on Friday in Sokoto by Muhammad Bello, the Special Adviser Media and Publicity to Gov. Aminu Tambuwal.

He said that the council also approved plan by the state government to secure N1.66 billion loan from Zenith Bank to settle its counterpart funds for 2020 and 2021 UBE projects.

“In view of this, the sum of over N715 million will be secured for 2020 while the sum of over N946 million will be secured for 2021 UBEC intervention and the facility will be paid back in 12 months.”

Bello also said that the council approved the upgrade of ongoing works for the new Sports complex from 4,700-seats capacity to 11, 000 seats, at the cost of over N781 million.

“The cost of the contract was initially over N1.25 billion, but with the new development it will now be over N2.32 billion.”

He said, “The council also approved the state Child Protection Bill after its deliberation with a view to forwarding it to the state Assembly for consideration.”

He recalled that the state government had constituted a high-powered committee under the leadership of Wazirin Sokoto to ensure that the bill conforms with the religious norms and values of the state.

The council also reviewed the COVID-19 pandemic in the state, noting that for the past 102 days the state has not witnessed any case of the virus.

“Since the outbreak of the disease, over 15,000 tests were conducted out of which 775 cases were found to be positive.

“Moreover, over 27,000 people have been vaccinated with the first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, while the second dosage of the vaccine has commenced with over 12,000 people vaccinated,” Bello added.