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The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, on Tuesday, signed a revised supplementary budget of N450bn into law.
The governor, at a ceremony held at the Exco Chamber of the Government House, Benin, said the government was appropriating about N5bn to boost the growth of small businesses in the state.
“I want to express my profound gratitude and appreciation to Mr Speaker and members of the Edo State House of Assembly for the honour you have given us by promptly and expeditiously approving the revised supplementary budget.
“Also, I thank you for your understanding and appreciation of the issues at stake. Last week, I met with Mr Speaker and the appropriation committee to inform and intimate them of the need for a revision of the budget they have earlier approved.
“We had to come back to the House to request for a revision and a supplementary allocation of the existing 2024 budget.
“After proper review and analysis, we found out that the 2023 budget was about N225bn and at that time, the exchange rate was about N750 to a dollar.
“It only follows common sense that if we must grow the economy of Edo State, our budget size needs to be doubled. What we have done in Edo is not just to double the budget size but to ensure more efficiency of the budget.”
He said with the revised supplementary budget, the government attempted to provide N5bn to disburse up to N1bn monthly to help small businesses, traders, and farmers access capital.
He said the government would partner with market associations, age groups and associations in communities where they already had some sort of support to each other, to ameliorate the suffering of Edo people.
“What is different about this budget which has been revised is that we are almost certain that we have a 95 per cent performance on the budget. As of half a year, we are almost at 100 per cent, relatively speaking. We don’t see the situation changing at the end of this year.
“What is more important for the Edo people that we represent is that with this supplementary provision, most provisions are now going to capital expenditure.
“Whereas at the last evaluation, the budget ratio was about 55 per cent for capital and 45 per cent for recurrent, this appropriation is now 57 per cent for capital and 43 per cent for recurrent expenditures. You can see that a lot more efficiency and resources are going to our people.
The governor assured the people that in the few months left in the life of the administration, the goal was to complete all projects started and to leave a solid foundation on which the next administration would build.
Earlier, presenting the budget, the Speaker of the Assembly, Blessing Agbebaku, noted, “We are here to present to you the 2024 approved revised appropriation law that was passed some hours ago. We all know that at every given point towards the end of the year, there must be a supplementary budget for appropriate areas not captured or appropriate for areas not budgeted for.
“We are here today to present to you the 2024 approved supplementary reviewed appropriation law. With this budget, we know you will be finishing well and properly. I am here to present to you the 2024 appropriation supplementary budget.”
Meanwhile, the state government has promised to unveil a new development plan for the state and Benin City, to mark the 33rd anniversary of the creation of the state.
In a joint press conference by the Commissioners for Physical Planning, Housing and Urban Development, Isoken Omo; Commissioner for Education, Dr Joan Oviawe, Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Tourism, Dr Uyi Oduwa-Malaka and the Commissioner for Communication and Information, Chris Nehikhare, the government outlined the events for the celebration with the theme, “The glory of the new Edo Nation.”
“The tenure of this administration is ending soon. We are launching the Edo State Regional Development and Benin City master plan.
“We will launch it on August 27, the day the state was created and hand it over to the next generation. There is nowhere in the world where Nigerians are excelling that you will not find an Edo person,” Omo said.
Also speaking, Oviawe said the event would feature school children from kindergarten; special needs school to the tertiary institutions, “to create different structured formats for them to interface with the Edo State master plan. Our young people must understand that and imbibe it in our quest to carry the torch into the next generation.”
Oduwa-Malaka said the celebration would bring Nigerian celebrities like Rema, Shallypuppy and others to spice up the events while deserving Edo people would be honoured.
“This government has been very deliberate in everything that it has done. I don’t think there is any government in the past that has done this,” Nehikhare said to end the press conference.