Udom Emmanuel, governor of Akwa Ibom state, has presented a budget proposal of N597, 800 billion to the state house of assembly with emphasis on education, industrialisation and poverty reduction.
He said the budget, which is christened “Budget of Industrialisation for poverty alleviation phase 2”, is predicated on the policy thrust to gradually metamorphose Akwa Ibom from a “civil service” state to a largely private sector driven state, depending less on statutory allocation as the main source of revenue.
“This will be achieved by creating more job opportunities through opening up the State to encourage private investments, creating a welcoming environment for investors, strengthening existing industries and establishing new ones, as well as improving our IGR processes and drive,” he said.
“It is expected that these, as well as the provision of basic infrastructures, enhancement of security, development of human capital and boosting services in education and healthcare will lead to an overall improvement in the living standard of our people.”
Advertisement
Capital expenditure takes the lead with N369, 642b, making about 61.8 % of the budget while recurrent expenditure takes N111,225b, making 18.6% while N116,933, making 19.5% has been estimated for consolidated revenue fund charges.
The 2020 budget is however significantly lower than last year’s budget which stood at N672,985.
This shortfall, the governor explained is reflective of anchoring the budget on oil benchmark of $55 per barrel at a production rate of N2.18 million barrels per day, and with an estimated exchange rate of 305/USS, in line with the national budget benchmark projection.
Advertisement
The governor said “education is the bed rock of all developments. It is a pivot on which every human capital development revolves. This administration places a high premium on education and skills development and acquisition”.
On Industrialisation, he said: “in the next four years, my administration will intensify efforts and focus in providing a high performance in the industrialization goals we had started in my first term in office.
“We hope to make Akwa Ibom State an industrial hub in our country. In this regard, more energy and vigour will be given to Small and Medium Enterprises to act as drivers of our viable economy. We will make sure that adequate and sufficient modern infrastructural facilities are provided which are quite necessary for effective and efficient industrialization.”
Aniekan Bassey, speaker of the assembly, applauded the governor for the “purposeful implementation” of the 2019 budget and pledged to ensure a speedy consideration and passage of the 2020 appropriation budget.
Advertisement
He, however, charged the various ministries, departments and agencies (MDGs) to ensure they provide all the necessary supporting budget data and stick to the time table that will be announced by the house for their appearance.
Add a comment
