State of States: Nasarawa State in Focus
Took out time to go through the State of State Report 2020 by BudgIT Nigeria. The report covered the period 2014–2019 with a subtheme: Health Financing and Epidemic Preparedness at the Subnational Level.
I will summarise the key points to keep you informed so you can know the direction of Nasarawa state finances, and how we as citizens can continue to hold government accountable to deliver the dividends of democracy and the much-needed change. Apologies to my friends, my focus is on my state. You can find the report on BudgIT website and have a look for yourself and x-ray the financial status of your state.
1. Nasarawa State has been able to increase its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from a paltry sum of N4.09bn to 10.86bn for the period under review. That represents a 165.81% increase in IGR. There have since been significant improvements in IGR of the state since 2019 with a monthly IGR receipt of more than 1billion naira. This may be attributed to the integration of all government revenue into a central billing system and automation of the payroll. Kudos the current state government.
2. In the 2019 fiscal year, 80.51% of the total revenue of the state came from the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) while 19.19% is from the IGR. This is quite worrisome and means that the state cannot meet up with its financial obligation without revenues from FAAC.
3. Nasarawa state is one of 23 states that can meet their recurrent expenditure and loan repayments schedule with their total revenue with an excess of 3.00billion naira. This means that the state will have to borrow to fund its capital expenditure, payback old loans or service old debts.
4. Nasarawa state is not prioritising capital expenditure over recurrent expenditure. Recurrent expenditures are not necessarily a bad thing, especially when skewed towards sector health and education which have expenses like payment of teachers and doctors’ salaries that are recurrent in nature. However, of the states in this category, 11 had overhead costs that were larger than their capital expenditures. Nasarawa State is one of them. The big question is, Nasarawa State is grappling with a shortage of doctors and teachers, what is raising the cost of our recurrent expenditures?
5. Looking back at the 2019 fiscal year, Nasarawa spent N52.72bn of its budgeted N63.41bn on recurrent expenditure with an 83.14% implementation level. On the other hand, the state achieved about 47.20% implementation level for capital expenditure, with only N16.17bn spent out of the budgeted N34.26bn.
6. The State is still within the debt ceiling that allows the state to take on more debt from other sources. The ceiling for external borrowing is set at a state’s total debt burden not exceeding 250% of their total revenue in or the previous year. With a debt growth of 75.47% for the period under review (N56.51bn domestic and $57.99m external debt), there is need for caution as to the loans that will be taken by the state government. Every loan must be tied to a capital budget that can pay back such loans.
7. In 2020, Nasarawa State budgeted N9.64bn of its total budget of N108.44bn to its health sector. This is quite low, especially when you put into context that the state has 1,283 primary healthcare centres. To ensure a positive shift in Nasarawa’s health sector, the state will need to finance at least 15% of its total appropriation to its health sector. The state will also benefit from a universal healthcare scheme which will ensure health coverage for its population of about 2.5 million people.
8. The year 2019 witnessed a drastic reduction in borrowing. This is highly commendable.
WHAT CAN THE GOVERNMENT AND CITIZENS DO?
The states of our finances are not looking good except for the improvements in IGR. It calls for more fiscal responsibility from the different strata of government in the state. We must cut our recurrent expenditure especially the overhead cost as well as improve the fortunes of our IGR. The state government must cut every form of wastages and leakages in revenue and ensure that unnecessary travels are reduced to the barest minimum. It is time to make Nasarawa State work for the people by cutting the cost of governance and prioritising capital expenditure. It is time for the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary arm of the state government to take a pay cut in the interest of the state and her citizenry.
Priority must be given to the Solid Minerals and Agricultural Sector by the state government to shore up revenue. These two critical areas have been neglected for years, that has to change going forward. In the state government drive to shore up IGR, we must harness the advantage of our proximity to the Federal Capital Territory and make the most of it. Mararaba, Nyanya, Masaka, Karu and Keffi are gold mines that when harnessed properly will make Nasarawa State what Ogun is to Lagos State.
The health sector is one sector that was given a priority in the Nasarawa Economic Development Strategy (NEDS). Hence, the health sector as a matter of urgency must be transformed. This is because, in the event of an epidemic or outbreak of disease, we are vulnerable. Hospitals must be equipped with personnel’s and equipment’s, nurses and doctors must undergo constant supervision, information, instruction and training. The state ministry of health under the leadership of Pharm Ahmed B. Yahaya must be seen making all efforts to reposition the state health sector as enshrined in the NEDS. The rivalry between the state Action Committee on AIDS and the State Ministry of Health (SMoH) must be a thing of the past, so our people can enjoy the benefit of a robust health sector. I am aware that the state government has set up the Nasarawa State Health Insurance Scheme and a host of other initiatives to boost health system in the State, however, more needs to be done to reduce the infant and maternal mortality rate, spread of disease etc.
Even as citizens we all have active roles to play. We must be able to hold our government accountable and ensure government spending are within the ambit of the needs of our people. We must begin to ask questions beginning from our Councillors, Local Government Chairmen and the House of Assembly Members. The local councils’ elections are by the corners and that presents an opportunity for us all to elect people of sound mind and character that will pilot the affairs of the councils. By the way, how many local governments in Nasarawa State have a working budget, if they do, what is the level of implementation of these budgets? These and many more are salient questions that we need to ask and get answers for.
The political parties also have an important role to play, don’t field people of questionable characters to fly your party flags in the next council elections. Aspirants should be people who have a sound understanding of fiscal responsibility, economics, emotional intelligence, climate change, global warming, artificial intelligence, global and human security and a host of other issues that are shaping the 21st century and global politics. We need men and women with the acumen and bellicosity to weather contemporary 21stcentury challenges and bring succour to our people.
I conclude by saying, Nasarawa State and Nigeria is the only home we have. It is our duty to preserve it for future generations.
#StateOfStates2020 @BudgITng
References
BudgITNng 2020 State of States report
