SPEECH DELIVERED BY THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, ABAJI AREA COUNCIL HON. ABUBAKAR UMAR ABDULLAHI ON THE OCCASION OF THE PRESENTATION OF ABAJI AREA COUNCIL, YEAR 2025 BUDGET PROPOSAL TO THE COUNCIL LEGISLATIVE ARM.

Our Amiable Legislative Leader, Honourable Members of the House, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.
As we are all aware, this year/last the Government of the Federation completely removed fuel subsidy and at the same time devalued the nation’s currency as part of a deliberate efforts to put the Nigeria economy back on track and on a sustainable shape.
This policy direction of Government changed the economic situations of the nation as prices skyrocketed and the purchasing power of citizens sharply declined. The dire economic situation was further compounded by the continuous security deterioration across the country, a situation which has forced Government at all levels to divert scarce public resources to combat these security challenges, considering the fact that security of lives and property is one of the primary responsibilities of Government.
At institutional level, the Federal Government economic policy grossly reduced the capacity of both public and private institutions to live up to their respective responsibilities and operations. Therefore, the whole nation is currently in a period of socio-economic realignment and transition, a period which is substantially testing and unpredictable. Therefore, our Proposed Budget for 2025 Fiscal Year is a flexible one to enable us appropriately and swiftly react to the changing time.
Despite these troubles I am happy to inform you that, based on the resources available, we made some substantial progress in terms of performance as briefly explained below:
GENERAL ADMINISTRATION:
Since an organization is as good and efficient as its workforce, my Administration has always placed high premium on the welfare of Council’s workforce and the general administration. For instance, we were able to sustain our policy of payment of staff monthly salary before month end; maintain essential office equipment; manage the payroll system; provide service materials; procure performance appraisal reports and file folders; implement and monitor Governments programmes and projects targeted at the health, agric, environmental and educational sectors of our local economy throughout the year under review.
In addition, we successfully carried out the following activities during the year under review:
Establishment and Inauguration of an Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) for the Council
Secure approval of the Honourable Minister FCT, to enable FCTA Procurement Department provides institutional support and training for the staff of Council’s newly established Procurement Unit.
Furthermore, sometime back in Year 2023, we started a move to enact a Bye-law for the smooth administration of the Council as well as boost our internal revenue generation. Happily, this effort was concluded and the Bill passed into law by the Honourable House in the month of November 2024. The enacted Bye-law is presently before The Federal Government Printer, Federal Government Press of the Federal Ministry of Information & Culture for gazetting and production.
Honourable Members of the House, Ladies & gentlemen, our Year 2025 Budget is presented sectorally in a tabular summary below:
S/N SECTOR
3 Education & Social Development
4 Health & Human Services
5 Agric & Natural Resources
6 Works & Housing
7 Environmental & Sanitation
8 Council Chairman’s Office
9 Council Secretary’s Office
10 Legislative Council
11 Traditional Council
12 Planning, Research & Statistics
13 ACTU
FOCUS OF OUR YEAR 2025 BUDGET
Our Esteemed Legislative Leader and Honourable Members, the focus of the Year 2025 Budget of the Council shall be cross-sector faceted. For instance, in the health sector, our focus shall be on the furnishing of the newly constructed 80-Bed Capacity Hospital in Abaji town with standard equipment to bring it into operation.
Furthermore, dilapidated clinics, health posts and PHC Centres will be repaired and maintained.
In addition, substantial vote will be dedicated in our Health Capital Vote for the provision of community outreach programs, OPD/IP services, Maternal and Child Health services; monitoring and supervision of health programs including healthcare support to the elderly and other vulnerable groups.
LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: In order to promote value addition and improve the local economy of the Council, my Administration is on the verge of gazetting the newly enacted Bye-law, the first of kind in the history of Abaji Area Council. The objective is to provide the necessary framework to harness Council’s internal revenue sources optimally as well as boost business operational environment.
In addition, great efforts will be made in ensuring the resuscitations and completion of the Abaji Trailers Park.
PROVISION OF RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND SOCIAL AMENITIES: One of the primary responsibilities of Local Government Council is to provide basic rural infrastructure and social amenities to make life conducive for the people in the local communities.
To this end, subject to fund inflow, the 2025 Proposed Budget seeks to provide the followings:
Primary Healthcare Services:
Renovation of the Cold Chain Store at Naharati for the safe storage of vaccines and other fragile primary healthcare drugs
Expansion of Ayaura Healthcare Clinic
Establishment of a Central Medical Store
Furnishing, equipping of the newly constructed 80-Bed Capacity Women and Children Hospital in Abaji, including procurement of essential drugs to facility easy treatment of patients
Renovation of dilapidated Healthcare Centres across the ten political wards.
Agricultural Services:
Continuation of programmes of empowerment of youths, women groups and farmers in various agric schemes such as the Banana & Plantain Macro-propagation techniques; Shea Butter Farming & Processing on commercial basis etc.
I have already reached an understanding with FCT Science & Technology Department and National Shea Products Association of Nigeria (NASPAN), respectively in this regard.
Procurement of Motorized and Manual-propelled Tractors to support farmers;
Provision of support services in the area of farm inputs such as fertilizer, agro-chemicals, veterinary drugs & vaccines, and extension services etc.
Rehabilitation and equipping of Naharati Veterinary Clinic.
Education and Social Services:
Our commitment to the provision of Community Development activities, including counter-part funding of youths and women development programmes remain very high and more funds have been provided in the 2025 Proposed Budget in this regard.
Provision of more intervention support to the maintenance of primary schools building, including teaching & instructional materials
Sustenance of Council’s Scholarship Scheme to support students and parents in this very difficult time
We plan to continue the partnership we started with FCT NDE in training our youths and unemployed in various vocational skills, trade and business. Presently, about 130 of such from the Council are being at the Bwari NDE Centre.
Rural Infrastructure Projects:
All ongoing road, culvert, electricity and water projects across the ten wards will be completed.
Expansion of some of these projects, where necessary will be done e.g. the Solar Street Light project and Solar-Powered Boreholes which we started in Year 2024 will be expanded to include maintenance of existing ones.
Drilling of 25 Manual Operated Boreholes across the ten wards
In addition, some critical new projects such as Gully Erosion Control which would include the construction of reinforced concrete drainage at Abattoir Phase III will be embarked upon. Other new projects proposed in the Budget include:
Rehabilitation and Maintenance of some township roads; construction of Double Cell Culvert along Agyana – Pandagi Road
Rehabilitation/Construction of Rural Roads in the following communities, namely: Cattle Market to Sabon-Tasha; 1.8km Nuku Bypass Road; Road from Ganiya Hotel to Hajia Kulu; Kekeshi Village Road etc.
Construction of Additional Office Block within the Council Secretariat Premise to address the acute office accommodation shortage.
Furthermore, the completion of the New ICT Centre under construction in Abaji town is going to be accorded top priority attention in the New Year. The completion of this important project is key to our quest not just to empower our youths with modern ICT knowledge and skills, thereby making them competitive and useful in an ICT driven world, but also to use the Centre for revenue generation purposes.
SECURITY OF LIVES AND PROPERTY: This is a primary responsibility of Government at all levels. To the glory of God Almighty, we have been able to bring the security situations under control through effective mobilization and coordination of both conventional and local security apparatus in the Council. Today, the Council is experiencing relative peace and safety, as activities of bandits and kidnappers have been reduced to the barest minimum. We are determine to preserve this tempo of efforts in conjunction with all stakeholders in the coming year and beyond. For instance, we successfully lobbied and convinced the Hon. Minister FCT to establish new Police Divisions in Abaji Area Council, in Yaba and Gawu to boost our efforts in this direction.
Mr. Legislative Leader, Honourable Members, Ladies and gentlemen, we intend to fund our Year 2025 Budget majorly from the following sources:
Statutory Allocation which is what every tier of government relies substantially on.
Value Added Tax
10% FCT Internally Generated Revenue. The Six Area Councils have recently reached an agreement with FCT IRS Authority in this regard
Non-Oil Revenue/NNPC;
Exchange Gain Rate;
Special Fund;
Non-Mineral Revenue;
Bailout and a host of other sources
We are very much aware of the constant fluctuations of inflow from these sources and we intend to strengthen our internal revenue generation capacity to fill the gap. To this end, we have decided to electronically collect most of our internal revenue/tax effective from Year 2025, using the SMARTREV Application. We have already reached an understanding with the Company providing the services in this regard.
It is therefore my sincere plea to all of us to support the project. This will greatly help to improve our revenue/tax collection in the most efficient, transparent and leakage-free manner.
CONCLUSION
Legislative Leader, Honourable Members of the House, Ladies and gentlemen, as I conclude this speech, let me recognize and appreciate all the stakeholders who actively participated in the discussions leading to the making of this budget.
The Financial Year 2025 Appropriation Bill seeks to deliver an inclusive growth and development for the vast majority of residents of the Council. It seeks to further consolidate on the significant gains we have achieved in the socio-economic transformation of the Council in the last two years. Therefore, I call upon all stakeholders and residents of Abaji Area Council to cooperate and facilitate the process of implementing components of this Budget for the attainment of its objective.
At this juncture, our Esteemed Legislative Members, permit me to submit the Year 2025 Budget Proposal of the Council to the Honourable House for consideration and appropriation, please.
Thank you and God bless.
PC Gidi Balugi
Abu Nigeria CPS to the Executive Chairman AAC
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