Lafia: The Nasarawa State House of Assembly has passed the 2026 Appropriation Bill of N545.2 billion into law, following deliberations in Lafia on Tuesday.
The House increased the budget by N27.6 billion from the N517.5 billion earlier presented by Gov. Abdullahi Sule.
Speaker of the House, Danladi Jatau, announced the passage during plenary, describing it as a major legislative milestone for the state.
Jatau said the bill, if assented to, would enable the government to initiate people-oriented projects for the overall development of Nasarawa State.
He commended House standing committees for what he described as their “diligence and good work” during the budget review process.
The Speaker urged the executive to ensure full implementation of the budget once it receives the governor’s assent.
“A Bill to authorise the issue of N545.18 billion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for 2026 has scaled third reading and passed,” Jatau said.
He said capital expenditure stood at N316.26 billion, while recurrent expenditure was N228.72 billion.
Jatau explained that the N27.6 billion increment was due to the “current surge in inflation” affecting project and service costs.
He said security-related votes received an additional N14 billion, while the Ministry of Local Government was allocated an extra N7 billion.
According to him, the Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism got N3.7 billion, alongside funding for the 55km Lafia–Kwandere–Garaku road project.
The Speaker directed the Clerk to produce a clean copy of the bill for Governor Sule’s assent.
Earlier, Majority Leader Suleiman Azara moved the motion for passage, which was seconded by Minority Leader Luka Zhekaba.
The House passed the bill unanimously, and it became law.
The Governor presented the N517.5 billion proposal on November 26, tagged “Budget of Strategic Consolidation”.
While presenting the bill, Sule commended the Assembly for its consistent support in passing appropriation bills on time.