Enugu – The Enugu State House of Assembly on Tuesday passed the 2018 appropriation bill of N103.6 billion into law as against N98.5 billion presented by Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in December, 2017.
The passage of the appropriation bill followed the presentation of the report on the budget in a motion by the Leader of the assembly, Mr Ikechukwu Ezeugwu and seconded by his deputy, Mrs Onyinye Ugwu.
Ezeugwu said the budget tagged `Budget of sustainable Economic Growth’ had an increase of N5 billion due to slight increase in price of crude oil.
He explained that the extra N5 billion went to the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure increasing its allocation to N15billion as against N10 billion earlier proposed.
The leader said that increase in the allocation was to accommodate development of more rural roads in the state.
Ezeugwu said that the overall reflections in the budget evidently showed that the state government had the interest and welfare of its people in mind.
“Our governor has sustained regular payment on salaries and on time. This apparent interest by the governor in paying his workers is happily reflected in this year’s budget alongside the other numerous projects.
Ezeugwu said that N60.7 billion was earmarked for recurrent expenditure which indicated 62 per cent of the budget size while N42.8 billion was set aside for capital expenditure indicating 39 per cent of the total budget.
The Speaker of the Assembly, Chief Edward Ubosi, thanked his Deputy, the Leader and the Chairman Assembly Committee on Appropriation for the wonderful job they did to ensure that the budget saw the light of the day.
Ubosi urged his colleagues to ensure proper monitoring of the budget through oversight functions.
The assembly adjourned to Feb. 20.
