Delta Assembly hikes appropriation bill with N23bn

With an increment of N23 billion by the lawmakers, the Delta State House of Assembly, on Wednesday,  passed the 2017 Appropriation Bill of N294 billion.

The state governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, had, earlier in November 2016, presented to the House  N270 billion budget.

The reasons for the upward review in the appropriation bill, the house said,  included the envisaged increase in accruable income from the Federation Accounts, owing to the global oil prices.

Presenting the report of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, the chairman of the committee, Honourable Erhiatake Ibori, said the committee received and collated inputs, observations and recommendations from the various sub-committees.

She told the House that the proposed 2017 budget estimate was made up of N151billion recurrent expenditure and N119 billion for capital expenditure.

According to her,with the increment, recurrent expenditure stood at N158 billion while the capital expenditure was N136 billion.