Kogi assembly passes 2017 budget

THE Kogi House of Assembly on Wednesday passed the N174.8 billion appropriation bill for 2017 into law. Passing the budget at its sitting, the lawmakers charged the executive arm of government to ensure proper implementation.

The passage followed the third and final reading of the bill after due consideration under the chairmanship of the speaker,  Umar Imam.

Estimated recurrent revenue was put at N81.6billion, while the expected capital receipts were put at N93.1billion.

The recurrent expenditure summary showed that salaries and allowances are expected at N32.7billion with overhead cost standing at N25.7 billion.

The chairman of Committee on Finance, Appropriation and Budget Monitoring, Mr John Abah, presented the committee’s report on the appropriation bill.

According to the committee, the state government should ensure that enough funds were released to MDAs to execute capital projects, provide them with vehicles and necessary tools for their jobs.

The committee also recommended that civil servants should be made to undergo training and retraining, adding that government should ensure that the promotion and cash backing of backlog of allowances owed civil servants be paid.

The speaker charged members to be alive to their oversight legislative functions in ensuring that the budget was strictly implemented.