Governor Alex Otti of Abia state has signed into law the 2024 Appropriation Bill of N567.2 billion, recently passed by the State House of Assembly.
By Ademu Usman Idakwo
The governor while signing the bill yesterday said the 2024 Budget would move Abia from its current level of underdevelopment to a more prosperous and developed state.
“I want to say that this is a budget that would take Abia State out of underdevelopment to development.
The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. This is the first step, once we get things right, and we know we will get them right, the next few years will be Uhuru for all our people, those living here and those who come from here and our friends,” the Governor declared.
He assured that the budget ratio of 84% for capital expenditure and 16% for recurrent was not a mistake, but a deliberate plan to accelerate the growth of Abia’s economy within a short space of time.
He moved further to affirm that, “Devoting 84% of the budget to capital expenditure is not an error. If you go through the details of the budget, you will find out that every kobo we intend to borrow will go into infrastructure.
Discussions are on and we believe that as we require the funding, we will get them,” he said.
The Governor maintained that every money borrowed to finance the budget would be channelled to capital expenditure, adding that the budget is expected to excite foreign and local investment, improve large-scale and medium businesses, secure the State, and prepare Abia for the next level of development.
Otti commended the Speaker and members of the State House of Assembly for a great job done, which led to the expeditious passage of the bill.
At the occasion, the Speaker of the House, Rt Hon. Emmanuel Emeruwa, who said 84% of the budget is for capital expenditure while 16% is for recurrent expenditure, disclosed that the budget would touch the lives of Abia people positively.
According to the speaker, the aim of passing the budget before the 31st of December 2023 is to ensure that the 2024 Budget becomes operational from the 1st of January 2024.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Budget and Planning, Hon. Mathias Umeh who also spoke said that they worked tirelessly to ensure the speedy passage of the bill, adding that they would continue to monitor the budget through oversight functions to ensure its implementation.
