Kano SSG, Alhaji Usman Alhaji giving his Keynote address		RT Honourable Speaker, Abdulaziz Garba Gafasa, giving his opening remark

The Kano State Ministry of Planning and Budget, in collaboration with DFID-Partnership to Engage Reform and Learn (PERL), organized a two-day session to sensitize the Legislative and Executive arms of government as well as non-state actors on Kano State 2020-2022 Economic and Fiscal Update (EFU), Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) and Budget Policy Statement (BPS) – Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).

The event, which was held in Kaduna, was aimed at informing participants on the 2019 half year budget performance, examining the historical trend of revenue and expenditure from 2015 – 2019 and sensitizing them on the basis/justification for coming up with indicative resource projections for the Kano State 2020 Budget. The session also aimed to identify challenges in the budget process and agree possible recommendations for mitigating any challenge.

Cross Section of participants at the session

In his keynote address, the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Usman Alhaji expressed his optimism on the impact the session would have on the state budget, stating that the purpose of the session was to ensure compliance with scientific budget estimates to make the budget as realistic as possible. He urged for the speedy passing of the budget proposal when submitted to the House of Assembly and for collective effort of all stakeholders towards improving the State’s budget performance.

The RT Honourable Speaker, Abdulaziz Garba Gafasa, in his opening remarks, assured that the Honourable House shall ensure objective scrutiny of the State’s budgeting systems and processes, effective monitoring and evaluation as well as legislative oversight.

The Reform Manager of PERL, Auwalu Hamza, reminded participants at the session of the endless opportunities for the state as a whole. He urged the Rt Honourable Speaker, and other state and non-state actors to take advantage of the opportunities and ensure the 2020 budget is realistic like the 2019 realistic State budget.

A wide range of participants attended the event given their critical role in the budget process. The participants included; principal members of the 9th Kano State House of Assembly, Permanent Secretaries and key Directors, representation from the Traditional Institution, representatives of Civil Society Organizations, Professional bodies, Academia and Media.