The Kaduna State Government has said human capital development will remain the major focus of its 2027 budget, with education, health and agriculture receiving priority attention in the proposed Appropriation Bill.
The Commissioner for Planning and Budget, Hon. Muktar Ahmed Monrovia, disclosed this on Wednesday while opening the 2027 Expenditure and Revenue Budget Defence exercise in Kaduna.
Monrovia said the 2027 budget would consolidate the achievements and programmes of the Governor Uba Sani administration over the past three and a half years.
According to him, while human capital development would remain central to the budget, the government would introduce Early Childhood Development as a new component of its human capital investment.
He explained that the new budget line would focus on children between zero and five years, stressing that investment in the early years was critical to strengthening the state’s human capital development agenda.
The commissioner also listed social protection, security and infrastructure as other key areas that would receive priority in the 2027 budget.
He said the focus was consistent with the administration’s determination to secure the state, improve infrastructure and provide support for underserved communities.
“Over the last three and a half years, His Excellency has done much in the area of security, and the policies and programmes will continue next year,” he said.
Monrovia noted that the 2027 Appropriation Bill would be the fourth budget of the Uba Sani administration and the final budget cycle of the governor’s first term in office.
On agriculture, the commissioner said the sector would receive increased attention because of Kaduna’s large farming population and its potential to drive economic growth.
He said a recent survey showed that Kaduna State has more than one million of the estimated 42 million farming households in Nigeria, underscoring the importance of agriculture to the state’s economy.
He said the administration had, over the past three years, supported smallholder farmers through the distribution of free fertilisers and improved seeds.
Monrovia added that the governor’s rural transformation agenda was designed to improve connectivity between farms and markets, thereby boosting local economic activities and reducing rural-urban migration.
He said the government would sustain the programmes as part of efforts to expand economic opportunities and improve the living conditions of residents across the state
