SaharaReporters has learnt from a highly
reliable source that the new governor of
Kaduna State, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, has
withdrawn the 176.4 billion naira proposed
budget for 2013 submitted to the state
assembly last December by the late
Governor Patrick Yakowa. Mr. Yakowa died
in a helicopter crash in the Niger Delta on
December 15, shortly after presenting the
budget.
Our source, a prominent politician from
Kaduna State who spoke on the condition of
anonymity, disclosed that Mr. Yero has
asked his associates to do a close review of
the withdrawn budget. The move, said our
source, has triggered another round of cold
war between politicians across religious and
ethnic lines in the widely polarized state.
“Those who were close to Yakowa are saying
that Governor Yero is trying to rubbish his
predecessor’s legacy and policies,” said our
source.
The source added that pressure was
mounted on Mr. Yero to request that the
state legislature allow him to review some
capital projects in the budget earlier
submitted by Mr. Yakowa. Those who
pressured the new governor to look at the
budget again alleged that the former
governor’s budgetary allocations were one-
sided and unduly favored the late
governor’s business partners and associates.
The source added that Mr. Yero’s
lieutenants plan to propose a new budget
that fits into the new governor’s political
interests and priorities, especially his
ambition to run as a candidate in the 2015
gubernatorial election. The forthcoming
election is expected to be hard fought and
tough.
The source said: “Get this right, Yakowa
submitted the proposed budget two days
before his death, and it was done in [a]
haste with some errors. And mind you, it is
a proposed budget, with recurrent
expenditure of N74,441,824,583 and
capital expenditure of N102,038,518,425,
totaling N176,480,343,008. And the
unfortunate incident [of Mr. Yakowa’s
death] happened. Now a new governor is
here facing the reality of the moment. He is
also a financial expert. What is wrong if he
asked to make input and review the budget?
It is some people that just created the cold
war to pursue their agenda.”
On the other side, Mr. Yero’s critics view
the budget review as a retreat from the
new governor’s earlier pledge to continue
with all policies initiated by the late Mr.
Yakowa. Those critics say that Mr. Yero had
stated at his inauguration as well as Mr.
Yakowa’s funeral that he planned to
consolidate and sustain the achievements so
far made by Mr. Yakowa. They insist that
implementing Mr. Yakowa’s budget, tagged
“Budget of Consolidation and
Advancement,” would have signaled such
continuity in policy.


www.saharareporters.com/news-page/cold-war-kaduna-gov-yero-withdraws-yakowas-n1764-billion-budget