Stakeholders in Suleja, Gurara and Tafa Local Government Areas of Niger State have demanded urgent rehabilitation of roads, schools and hospitals in the 2027 budget, amid poor capital project implementation in the three councils.
The demands were made on Monday at the 2027 Budget Preparation Citizens’ Engagement organised by the Niger State Planning Commission at Gawu-Babangida, Gurara LGA.
Representatives of youth groups, civil society organisations, vigilante groups, religious and traditional institutions, alongside Directors of Planning, Research and Statistics from the three councils, presented the priority needs of their communities.
They urged the government to ensure that projects captured in the budget are implemented rather than left as mere provisions.
The demand comes as the three councils recorded only 4.22 per cent performance in their 2026 capital expenditure.
The Director of Planning in the Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, QS Usman Musa Jemaku, said the councils had a combined N3.57 billion approved for capital projects, but only N150.70 million had accrued.
For urban and rural renewal, N3.67 billion was approved, while only N336 million had accrued, representing 9.15 per cent performance.
At the state level, the Director of Budget Planning Commission, Umar Isah, said N569.27 billion was proposed for capital expenditure in 2027, with the economic sector receiving the largest allocation of N433.22 billion.
He said the state recorded N179.65 billion in actual capital accrual from N783.96 billion approved for 2026, representing 22.92 per cent performance.
Isah described budget preparation as a shared responsibility requiring cooperation among government and citizens to achieve better service delivery, while urging the three councils to strengthen measures to block revenue leakages.
Earlier, speaking on behalf of the Commissioner for Planning Commission, Mustapha Ndajowo, the Permanent Secretary, Hajiya Aisha Usman, said citizens’ engagement had helped reposition the commission’s activities, particularly at the local government level.
She said the 2026 local government budgets were accessible online and had been converted to the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), using the segments and digits of the National Chart of Accounts.
Usman urged council chairmen to sustain training for planning officers and deploy technology to help block leakages and improve budget implementation in their LGs, while assuring stakeholders that their inputs would be reflected in the 2027 budget.
Also, Gurara LGA Chairman, Engr. Jonah Ishaya Kabo, commended the commission for sustaining the annual consultation and pledged to intensify efforts to improve the council’s revenue.
Earlier, the Planning Commission delegation visited the Hakimi of Gawu, Alhaji Musa Sarki, to seek his support and royal blessing for the exercise, where he commended the initiative and prayed for its success.
Suleja, Gurara, Tafa demand roads, schools, hospitals in 2027 budget