The Permanent Secretary in the State House, the Presidency, Jalal Arabi, today, Friday appeared before the House of Representatives to defend the allocation to the Presidency in the 2018 budget.
Arabi, who defended the 2018 budget proposal for the State House and the utilization of the 2017 budget releases before the House Committee on Special Duties, said that the 2018 budget proposals of the State House will focus on completing all on-going projects.
The Permanent Secretary, who said that several ongoing projects have been stalled or delayed due to funding constraints, said that the budget proposals are aimed at delivering on Nigeria’s Economic Growth and Recovery Plan (EGRP) 2018-2020.
According to him, the budget will maximise scarce resources in a manner that the State House functions optimally to the point that security of the State House is not compromised.”
He told the Committee that the State House administration caters for the offices of the President, the Vice President, the Chief of Staff, the Chief Security Officer to the President, the State House Medical Centre and the State House Liaison office in Lagos.
The State House budget proposal for 2018 is N15,479,178,778 for capital and recurrent expenditure.
The Chairman, House Committee on Special Duties, Hon. Nasir Sani Zangon-Daura, described the State House as the nerve-centre of the nation, adding that there is need to be fair in the allocation of resources so that it can effectively service the strategic offices located therein.
He assured that the committee will be open-minded in its recommendations without compromising quality.
