The Cross River State Governor Bassey Edet Otu has signed the ‘Peoples First’ Budget of N296, 985, 631, 978, 1k into law.
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor Emmanuel Ogbeche, in a statement made this known in Calabar.
He said the event, which happened on Friday in the temporary office of the Governor’s Office has the economic sector topping with N104, 986, 870, 898.59 billion.
Recall that Governor Otu had on October 26, 2023 presented the estimates to the State House of Assembly.
But skilled a legislator that he was he prioritised a higher capital expenditure over recurrent expenditure in the state public expenditure structure.
“As a deliberate principle,” Otu said. “We have maintained a higher capital–recurrent expenditure of 61.6% to 38.4%.
He said: “This does not only emphasize the importance of structural development but also a demonstration of the State’s commitment to the provision of the much-needed infrastructural facilities in our rural and urban centres.”
The governor’s account of his proposed budget size of N250 billion with N154 billion as capital expenditure had N96 billion for recurrent expenditure, but the House of Assembly jerked it up by N46 billion to N296 billion.
The new budget bucket has capital expenditure of N180 billion and recurrent expenditure of N116 billion.
Speaking at the budget signing, Governor Otu said,
“The increase is predicated on the need to provide adequate financial support to our people living with disabilities.”
“I requested for it, after laying the Budget proposal before the State House of Assembly,” Gov.Otu said while signing the budget.
“The increase in the budget allocation for this community is not just a necessity but a moral imperative.”
He said this is to erase social imbalance of this special demographics as they are a vulnerable group.
“They require specialized care, adaptive equipment, and access to resources that accommodate their unique needs,” he explained.
“This increase will facilitate better access to healthcare, assistive technologies, education, and employment opportunities tailored to their capabilities.”
According to him, it is not just a fiscal decision but a statement of their values as a society which is espoused by his administration.
“In addition, there is an upscale budgetary provision for payment of gratuity, debt services, counterpart funds, nutrition activities, social protection, climate change and gender responsive budget.”
He thought with satisfaction that his administration is committed to prudent spending, effective governance, and unwavering dedication to the welfare of his people.
“Towards this end, I have directed that efforts be made to ensure the earlier submission of the 2024-2026 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper,” he remarked.
“To achieve the laudable objectives of the 2024 Budget,” he promised that he will further intensify the revenue mobilization efforts.
Aware of dwindling revenue inflow, the Governor noted that,
“I am optimistic about our ability to finance the budget with creative funding options,” he said when he realized the dwindling revenue inflow of the state.
As he felt himself getting very optimistic to surpass the revenue targets, he therefore called on the revenue-generating agencies, and indeed all MDAs to ensure prompt and full remittances of collected revenues.
Highlights of the budget include; economic sector – N104, 986, 870, 898.59 billion; general administration – N95, 815, 641, 732.54 billion; law and justice – N7, 947, 139, 687.33 billion; regional sector – N1, 262, 390, 126.52 billion, and social sector – N86, 973, 489, 533.02 billion.
