By Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, on Monday, has released details of his security vote, salary and allowances as well as the disbursements to the 23 Local Government Areas in the state.
The Governor, while releasing the details stated that he accepted the challenge of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yabubu Dogara, and again challenged the National Assembly members to do likewise.
The former Minister of FCT said the federal legislature had the most opaque budget in the country, adding that Nigerians had spent N1tn on the lawmakers without knowing the details. El-Rufai had at the National Assembly retreat in Kaduna on Friday, dared members of the federal lawmakers to disclose details of their N115bn budgetary allocation, salaries and allowances.
In retaliation, Dogara was reported, on Saturday, to have challenged el-Rufai and other governors to publish their security votes.
In a statement on Monday by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Samuel Aruwan, el-Rufai said he had nothing to hide. The February pay slip of the governor indicates that his monthly pay was N470, 521.71 after deductions.
According to the pay slip, details of the monthly pay include basic salary, N185,308.75; hardship allowance, N370,617.50; gross pay, N555,926.25, PAYE N85,404.51; total deduction amounts to N85,401.51 while the net pay stands at N470,521.74.
The Governor noted that the amount might appear puny, but it reflected what the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission approved as the salary and allowances of governor “adjusted to reflect provision in-kind of accommodation and transportation.”
He said he accepted Dogara’s challenge as a necessary step to improve and strengthen the nation’s democracy.
He stated that he had consistently made the budget of the state public unlike the National Assembly budget “which is a single line item of over N100bn that divulges zero information or details.”
On the local government funds, the governor referred the lawmakers to the online portal, www.openkaduna.com.ng, for relevant information.
“The proposed 2017 local government budgets, currently before the State Assembly, are also already online on the same website, and on www.kdsg.gov.ng. Approved State Budgets 2016-2017 can be found on http://openkaduna.com.ng/ Budget/approved-budget.
“We invite the Right Honourable Speaker to download and peruse at his pleasure,” the governor added.
As regards the Kaduna State security vote, El-Rufai stated,
“As our Kaduna Comprehensive Security Architecture outlines, the state is directing security spending on four pillars: justice, technology, community engagement and support to security agencies. The 2017 budget details specific amounts:
“N1.5bn for the procurement and installation of CCTV cameras for monitoring and surveillance towards reducing criminal activities within the metropolis.
“N193m for procurement of geo-position interceptor and location of GSM UMTS System to check the trends and intercept/locate kidnappers’ GSM calls.
“N265m for the procurement of drones/unmanned aerial vehicles to identify locations of armed bandits in our forest reserves across the state and the establishment of a forensic laboratory to assist in determining substantial evidence in cases that otherwise proved difficult in the past.
“N2.6bn is allocated in 2017 to support the network of federal security agencies in Kaduna with communications, logistics and materiel.”
The governor insisted that the call to #OpenNASS was not a personal one, adding that “it is one which the leadership of the National Assembly owes to all Nigerians.”
He noted that it was disingenuous for the Speaker to use state government budgets as the excuse for the opacity of the National Assembly budget.
El-Rufai said in 2016, the National Assembly budget for its 469 members was bigger than the capital budget of Kaduna State, with close to 10 million inhabitants.
The Kaduna State governor added, “It is also larger than the entire budget of several Nigerian states. Indeed, over the past 10 years from 2008, the National Assembly, as an institution, has cost the country over N1tn without any detail on how this amount was allocated and spent.
“There is no state government in Nigeria with a budget nearly as opaque as that of NASS. In March 2016, this National Assembly, led by its Chairman, promised to provide a detailed breakdown of the National Assembly budget. Nigerians are waiting,” he said
The governor said he would like to reiterate his call for the NASS leadership to do the same and disclose the details of the National Assembly budget, and the salaries and allowances of its leadership to Nigerians.
NPO
