Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has presented a budget of over N141.219 billion as Imo State’s Appropriation Bill for 2015, christened: “Budget of Total Rescue and Sustainability.”
Delivering aspeech at the temporary site of Imo State House of Assembly at Ikemba Ojukwu Convention Centre, he informed that his rescue mission administration was anchored on a four-year development plan, that derived its bearing from the vision of the administration viz: believe in God, free education, massive infrastructure development, and agriculture production to ensure food sufficiency and food security.
Okorocha also said the 2015 budget will focus mainly on delivery of social services to the people of the state, adding that high priority will be accorded to projects that will grow the economy, create employment, increase revenue generation capacity, as well as touch the lives of Imo people.
The 2015 budget is rooted on 57 percent on capital projects and 43 percent recurrent expenditure,
formulated to achieve concrete and formidable dividends of democracy in the areas of completion of all ongoing projects and implementation of prioritised projects that will rapidly bring about socio-economic development of the state.
Of the budget figure of N141,219,133,849, recurrent revenue would be allocated N119,698,633,849, while recurrent expenditure gets N69,726,573,834, as N21,520,500,000 goes to capital receipts, and capital expenditure gets N80,492,560,015.
He said emphasis would also be placed on projects and programmes with high capacity for wealth creation, skill acquisition and self employment, and overall socio-economic development of the state.
He emphasised that economic and community development sector, which comprises agriculture and natural resources, commerce, manufacturing, energy and power, transport, water resources, works, housing, town and country development and tourism get N50.021 billion or 62.1 percent of the total capital budget.
Petroleum and environment get N1.2 billion, while housing and city beautification are allocated N3 billion. A total of N2,215 billion was set aside for transport and tourism, as adding the administration proposed to spend N520 million for Ministry of Lands, Survey and Urban Planning.
The education sub-sector, which is sub-divided into primary/secondary unit and tertiary/technology unit, received allocation of N2 billion and N6.112 billion, respectively.
Meanwhile, N12.933 billion or 16.14 percent of the budgetary provision was set aside for social service sector, which includes education, information, women affairs and social development, youth and sports
development, health, community government and culture.
The governor informed that the executive and the legislature in the state were divinely destined to work together, adding that the House members’ unflinching support to the executive arm, the wisdom they exhibited in making laws and taking decisions, and the maturity they also injected as a guiding principle to their actions, make them gentlemen that will in no distant future play the stabilising role in the society and state.
BEN EGUZOZIE & VICTORIA NNAKAIKE
