The Akwa Ibom House of Assembly,
on Thursday in Uyo, passed the 2017 Appropriation Bill of N371.29 billion into
law as against the N423 billion in 2016.
The
budget, as passed by the House, is an increase of N6 billion against the N365
billion presented by Gov. Udom Emmanuel on Dec. 22, 2016.
The budget
is made up of N88. 42 billion for recurrent expenditure as against N201.997
billion for capital expenditure while N80. 87 billion is set aside as
consolidated revenue charges.
In his
presentation, Mr Usoroh Akpanusoh (PDP Esit Eket/Ibeno State Constituency) and
House Committee Chairman on Finance and Appropriation urged the executive to
implement the budget as passed.
Akpanusoh
appealed to the government to ensure that the amount appropriated was promptly
released to the ministries departments and agencies (MDAs) as well as ensuring
judicious use of the funds.
He advised
the MDAs to submit the level of budget implementation on release of funds to
the House through the various committees on a quarterly basis.
The
committee chairman commended the governor for adopting a transparent and
detailed accounting system in preparing the budget.
The
Speaker, Mr Onofiok Luke, commended the House Committee on Finance and
Appropriation for ensuring prompt passage of the appropriation estimate into
law.
He
applauded the state government for prudent management of resources and for
provision of infrastructure in the state.
Luke
explained that the N6 billion increase was necessitated by MDAs during their
budget defence and the need to enhance rehabilitation of schools as well as
improvement on health facilities.
The
speaker urged the executive arm to make the budget available to the public
after the governor’s assent.
He
directed the Clerk of the House, Mrs Mandu Umoren, to forward the appropriation
law to the governor for assent.
The News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 2017 budget is christened, “Budget of
Consolidation”.
NAN also
reports that the policy framework for the year is aimed at expanding the
economic activities in the state as well as promoting the industrialisation
policy of government.
The budget
also focused on promotion of trade, commerce and tourism.
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