Kogi State, by the end of the second quarter of 2022, had the best budget implementation performance amongst the states in the North-Central region. The state implemented 69.18 per cent of its first two-quarters pro rata budget. It budgeted N72.95 billion and spent N50.46 billion.
Benue State spent N75.09 billion of the budgeted N131.93 billion for the first three quarters. This gives the state a 56.91 billion performance for the period. Niger State had a 44.79 per cent performance, spending N70.88 billion of N158.27 billion.
Kwara State had a 66.14 per cent budget implementation performance as it spent N62.71 billion of its N94.81 billion for the first two quarters of 2022.
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The first two quarters’ budget implementation performance of Nasarawa State stood at 66.02 per cent. N36.59 billion of its N55.42 billion for the first two quarters was spent within the period.
North-Central’s Regional Budget Appropriation
Budget implementation reports for five out of six states in the region were reviewed. Benue and Niger states had their reports up to the third quarter, while Kogi, Kwara, and Nasarawa states had for just the first two quarters.
Benue and Niger states budgeted N290.19 billion for the first three quarters. The states by the end of Q3 spent N145,97 billion, representing 50.3 per cent.
By the end of the first two quarters, Kogi, Kwara, and Nasarawa states jointly spent N149.76 billion of its N223.18 billion pro rata budget. The states had a 67.1 per cent performance by the end of the period.
Apart from Plateau State, the region had a joint revenue projection of N464.66 billion and a deficit of N368.63 billion.
Benue and Niger states generated N150.27 billion of their N154.92 billion estimated first three-quarters revenue. This shows that the states generated 97 per cent of its recurrent revenue for the period.
Kogi, Kwara and Nasarawa states generated 95.27 per cent of its pro rata revenue for the first two quarters. The states collectively generated N122.94 billion of its N129.05 billion.
Federation Account Revenue vs. Internal Generated Revenue (IGR)
Benue and Niger states had a revenue projection of N154.92 billion for the first three quarters of 2022. Dataphyte’s analysis shows that N109.65 billion, 70.78 per cent is the revenue from the federation account, and N45.27 billion is from internal sources.
Of the N128.05 billion revenue projected for the first two quarters by Kogi, Kwara, and Nasarawa states, N88.91 billion, 68.89 per cent is revenue from the federation account N40.14 billion is from internal sources.
The revenue composition differs from state to state. While Niger State expects to generate more revenue from the federation account, Benue State intends to generate more internally.
In Benue State, N46.41 billion was the projected revenue from the federation account and N28.25 billion from internal sources. This gave a revenue composition of 62.17 per cent to 37.83 per cent for federally collected revenue to internally generated revenue.
In Niger State, N63.23 billion was expected from the federation account revenue, and N17.03 billion to be generated internally. This means the state has a federation account revenue to IGR of 78.79 per cent to 21.21 per cent.
The other states in the region had a revenue composition of federation account revenue to IGR of 75.96 per cent and 24.04 per cent in Kogi State, 64.90 per cent and 35.1 per cent in Kwara State, and 64.36 per cent and 35.64 per cent in Nasarawa State.
Kwara State generated the most IGR in the region. The state generated N18.03 billion, almost N3 billion more than the N15.42 billion it projected for the period. This means the state’s OGR had a 116.92 per cent performance for the period.
In the other states, Benue State generated N14.95 billion of its N28.25 billion, Kogi State N8.33 billion out of N11.63 billion, Nasarawa State N8.5 billion out of N13.09 billion, and in Niger State, N9.24 billion of its planned N17.02 billion to be generated internally.
The state’s IGR performance rate compared to that budgeted for the period is 52.95 per cent in Benue State, 71.61 per cent in Kogi State, 64.92 per cent in Nasarawa State, and Niger State 54.30 per cent.
However, IGR comprised less than 40 per cent of revenue generated in the states within the North-Central region. Only Kwara State had its IGR taking 39 per cent of its total revenue, as the states had a composition of less than 25 per cent.
It is 24 per cent in Nasarawa State, 21 per cent in Kogi State, 17 per cent in Benue State, and 14 per cent in Niger State.
Recurrent vs. Capital
The budget composition of the states shows that only Kwara State and Niger State had greater proportions of the budget to capital expenditure.
In Kwara State, 56 per cent of its budget was to capital expenditure while recurrent expenditure received 44 per cent.
Niger State budgeted 58 per cent of its budget to capital expenditure, reserving 42 per cent to recurrent expenditure.
The other states capital expenditure composition shows that 43 per cent of the budget in Benue State went to capital expenditure, 44 per cent in Kogi State, and 35 per cent in Nasarawa State.
Implementation of the budget saw capital expenditure receiving just N70.85 billion of the N295.73 billion spent. Spending on recurrent expenditure summed up to N224.87 billion. At the end of the third quarter, 86.13 per cent of recurrent expenditure was spent, and only 28.08 per cent of capital expenditure was implemented.
The states in the region spent less than 30 per cent of their expenditure on capital items. Kwara State spent 30 per cent of its N62.71 billion budget on capital expenditure. The highest in the region.
In Niger State, 28 per cent of the N70.88 billion was spent on capital expenditure, 23 per cent of N50.47 billion in Kogi State, 19 per cent of N75.09 billion in Benue State, and 18 per cent of N36.59 billion in Nasarawa State.