Usman Faleye, a public financial management expert with USAID’s State Accountability, Transparency, and Effectiveness Activity (State2State), has called on the Sokoto State House of Assembly to increase budgetary allocations for health, education, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sectors in the state’s 2024 budget. Faleye’s recommendations followed his observations at the budget defense session for the Ministry of Health at the State House of Assembly complex.

Faleye noted that the current budget allocates 15% to education and 11.48% to health—figures he described as below the national benchmark necessary to meet adequate standards for these critical sectors. He pointed out that these allocations fall short of the minimum levels recommended for developing health and educational infrastructure, advocating for a 15% allocation for health to meet basic standards that support effective service delivery.

Additionally, Faleye recommended raising the WASH budget from its current 7% to around 10%, which aligns with global standards for improved sanitation, water quality, and hygiene access. He expressed optimism that stakeholders, including the House, public agencies, and civil society, will collaborate to revise the budget before its final passage to prioritize these essential sectors. Such a revision, he emphasized, would better address the community’s pressing needs and foster a healthier, better-educated population in Sokoto State.