… gets N45.8bn from federation account
Edo State government on Monday said it recorded revenue generation of N88.5 billion, representing 76.3 percent between January and November in 2016 fiscal year out of the projected N115.9 billion.
Governor Godwin Obaseki made the disclosure during the presentation of the 2017 budget proposal to the Edo State House of Assembly in Benin City.
Obaseki said the sum of N45.8 billion, representing 91.7 percent was recorded out of the projected N50 billion from the federation account, N22.9 billion from Internally Generated Revenue as against N25 billion, representing 91.7 percent, N14.8 billion from loans and debts against N35.6 billion, representing 41.5 percent, N3.7 billion from aids and grants against approved N4 billion, representing 91.7 percent and N1.2 billion from opening balance out of N1.4 billion.
He attributed the revenue performance to sharp decline in the global price of crude oil and the unprecedented vandalism of pipelines, economic downturns and recession as a result of developments in the global economy.
‘’The Nigerian economy witnessed a sharp decline in global oil prices from a peak of over $100 to slightly below $40, which weakened our external reserves and the exchange rate and adversely affected inflows from the Federation Account.
‘’As a result, many states in the Federation faced financial difficulties so much that they could not discharge their contractual obligations and pay salaries to their employees. Edo remains one of the few in the exception, owing to our financial management reforms anchored on the two pillars of accountability and transparency.
‘’All of these setbacks occurred in an election year in Edo State that witnessed a transition of power from the Comrade Governor to my humble self. Provisional data on the implementation of the 2016 budget show that as at November ending, the performance of the budget stood at 76 percent. We expect that the budget performance for 2016 will reach 80 percent,” he said.
The governor noted that the budget was geared towards completion of ongoing projects from 2016 plans, institutional reforms to better prepare the civil service for optimal service delivery, revamping working environment of public officers, training and seeking to improve the incentive structure.
He also added that in the fiscal year, the secretariat buildings would be renovated and government offices would be relocated along the secretariat axis while a new Central Administrative Building would be constructed in Government House.
He pointed out that the agenda of the government was to embark on massive economic revolution to be driven by optimising potentials in agribusiness and industrialisation
He also promised to establish a one-stop-shop Business and Investment Bureau to identify growth opportunities and incubate projects that would transform the economy of the state in the areas of agribusiness, electricity generation and distribution, extractive industry development and expansion.
Others include Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) development, skills development and productivity enhancement, tourism, culture, leisure and hospitality, health care services, utilities, and any other areas where the state was positioned to be competitive to meet market demands.
