Edo Assembly passes N153.2bn 2017 Appropriation Bill

THE Edo House of Assembly on Monday passed the state’s 2017 budget proposal of N153.18bn.

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo had on December 19, 2016, presented a budget proposal of N150bn to the Assembly for consideration and passage.

The budget consists of N75.11bn for capital expenditure, while the proposed recurrent expenditure stood at N74.9 billion

The Assembly increased the appropriation bill with about N3bn, representing 0.1 per cent increase.

The Chairman, Assembly Committee on Appropriation and Project Monitoring, Mr Damian Lawani (APC Etsako Central), said the budget reflected the needs of the people and was designed to consolidate and complete all ongoing projects.

During the consideration of the bill, N76.6bn was allocated for capital expenditure, while N76.5bn was allocated for re-current expenditure.

The breakdown of the proposal showed that N18.5bn, N7.2bn, N3.6bn and N6.034bn were allocated for the recurrent expenditure of the administrative, economic, law and justice and social sectors, respectively.

Also, N5.68bn, N47bn and N1.84bn and N22.09bn were allocated for the capital expenditure for the administrative, economic, law and justice and social sectors, respectively.

The Assembly, after the consideration of the document with amendments, passed the bill.

The Speaker, Mr Justin Okonoboh, directed that the clean copies of the bill be sent to the governor for his assent.