Katsina State Governor Dikko Umaru Radda has signed into law a N137.1 billion supplementary budget, a move aimed at fortifying the state's defenses against escalating banditry and insecurity while accelerating critical infrastructure and social projects.
The legislation, passed by the State House of Assembly last week, brings the total 2025 fiscal outlay to N218.9 billion, portraying the administration's urgent response to the northwest region's persistent security challenges.
In a brief ceremony at the Government House in Katsina on Monday, Governor Radda described the budget as a "strategic lifeline" for the state, emphasizing its focus on immediate interventions to protect lives and property.
"This supplementary appropriation is not just about numbers; it's about safeguarding our people from the scourge of banditry, enhancing our healthcare delivery, and laying the foundations for sustainable growth," Radda stated.
He highlighted that the funds would prioritize ongoing efforts to combat the surge in kidnappings and attacks that have plagued Katsina and neighboring states like Zamfara and Sokoto.
The budget breakdown reveals a heavy tilt toward security, with over N60 billion allocated to equip and empower local vigilante groups, procure advanced surveillance drones, and construct additional forward operating bases for security forces.
Another N25 billion targets education, funding the rehabilitation of schools damaged in recent raids and scholarships for thousands of out-of-school children in high-risk areas.
Health receives N18 billion for upgrading rural clinics and stockpiling medical supplies, while N30 billion is earmarked for infrastructure, including road networks to remote communities and irrigation schemes to boost agriculture, a sector vital to Katsina's economy.
Lawmakers who championed the bill praised its timeliness. Speaker of the Katsina State House of Assembly, Hon. Nasiru Yahaya Dawanau, noted during the signing that the supplementary provisions address "gaps exposed by the first quarter's realities," including a N15 billion shortfall from federal allocations due to national economic pressures.
The assembly had fast-tracked the process after Governor Radda's October 8 presentation, incorporating public inputs from town halls across the state's 34 local government areas.
Katsina's fiscal maneuvers come against a backdrop of intensified bandit activities in 2025, with reports from the state emergency management agency indicating over 200 abductions and dozens of fatalities since January.
Governor Radda, a former APC gubernatorial candidate who assumed office in 2023, has positioned security as his administration's cornerstone, previously launching the "Katsina Peace Corps" initiative.
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