About a month after the presentation of the 2018 budget by governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, the State House of Assembly on Friday passed the 2018 appropriation bill into law.
The House unanimously passed the budget estimate at a plenary presided by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Bamidele Oleyelogun.
It would be recalled that the state Governor Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, presented a total sum of N171, 267, 913, 000 to the Assembly for passage into law on December 22 last year.
The budget estimate was, however, increased by lawmakers by N10.156bn, raising the total budget passed into law by the House to N181, 424, 540, 283.
The passage of the budget followed the submission and adoption of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation under the chairmanship of Hon.Sunday Olajide
Speaking on the reason for the increase of the budget, the Chairman, House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Hon. Sunday Olajide said that the sum of N7billion SUBEB funds for capital projects in 2017 was rolled into the 2018 budget.
He said further that the sum of N2billion was also earmarked for the conduct of local government election.
He explained that the errors observed in the proposals of MDA were rectified culminating in the increase of the budget sum.
Submitting the report, Hon. Olajide said the budget estimate gave clear expression to the vision of the government to transform Ondo state, adding that the 2018 expenditure it is quite set at sustainable level taking cognizance of the current economic realities.
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