The Gombe State government has allocated N12 billion out of N320 billion in its 2025 budget, representing 3.7 per cent of the total budget to the agricultural sector.
During the budget presentation at the state house of assembly on Tuesday, the state governor, Inuwa Yahaya, explained that the budget estimate tagged “Budget of Commitment and Resilience”, has the sum of N209,022,785,000.00 earmarked for capital expenditure, representing 65.30% of the total budget while N111,087,215,000.00 is allocated for recurrent expenditure, accounting for 34.70%, of the budgeted sum.
The governor said the government targets to generate N160,270,745,000.00 as recurrent revenues, and the sum of N71,520,000,000.00 as capital receipts in the 2025 fiscal year.
Meanwhile, the 3.7 per cent allocation to agriculture is coming amid food inflation in the state and country.
The government also allocated N19 billion to the water resource sector, equivalent to 5.94 per cent of the N320 billion proposed budget.
“The 2025 budget has been crafted in alignment with local, national, and global economic realities, prioritising the developmental needs of our people while emphasising sustainability, equity, and inclusiveness.
“It reflects our commitment to fostering growth, providing opportunities, and addressing pressing challenges in key sectors of the economy.”, the governor explained.
Report from the Leadership newspaper showed that Gombe State is bedeviled by serious water scarcity due to the sandy nature of its soil with most of the residential areas lacking access to tap water provided by the government, while many residents rely on vendors for water supply.
It also reported that It was observed that the allocation falls short of the ‘Maputo declaration’ that recommends the allocation of at least 10 per cent of states’ budgets to agriculture in order to ensure food security.