COVID-19: Kano assembly passes N138.2bn revised budget

Kano State House of Assembly has passed into law an amendment bill for the revision of the 2020 budget from over N206 billion to N138.2 billion.

The bill was passed on Tuesday during plenary presided over by the speaker, Alhaji Abdulazeez Gafasa.

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Briefing journalists after the proceedings, the Majority Leader of the House, Kabiru Hassan Dashi, said the amendment was about reducing the size of the budget due to the prevailing economic realities occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Daily Trust reports that the revised budget now has N78.8bn for recurrent expenditure and N54.9bn for capital expenditure, while Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) now stands at N24bn, and federal allocation pegged at N52bn.

Meanwhile, the House has set up a panel to investigate the allegation of ill-treatment of workers at Popular Rice Mills in the state.

This followed a motion by Hon. Mudassir Ibrahim (PDP, Kumbotso), who called on the House to investigate the matter.

The house thereafter directed the member and the chairmen of the four existing adhoc committees to investigate the matter and report back in a week’s time.

Daily Trust reports that police operatives in the state on June 22 rescued hundreds of labourers allegedly forced to remain within the premises of the rice mill where they had been working for close to three months before their rescue.

The rice mill had, however, denied the allegation of keeping workers against their wishes and that of maltreating them for the said duration in the company premises.