Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, on Wednesday presented a budget proposal of N146bn to the House Assembly for the 2018 fiscal year.
The appropriation bill tagged, “Budget of Growth,” is said to have a 15 per cent nominal increase over that of 2017 and would be used to consolidate on the infrastructural and socio-economic gains of the outgoing year.
But the budget presentation came to an abrupt end when the governor expressed concern over the heat in the legislative chamber, minutes after electricity supply was interrupted and the air conditioners shut down.
“Mr. Speaker, I could go on and on but I am sorry that the environment here is a bit inclement. So permit me to end this budget presentation by thanking everyone who has made the last one year remarkable and successful one for my administration,” Obaseki said.
Earlier, the governor disclosed that while N79.8bn was earmarked for capital expenditure, N66.7bn was voted for recurrent expenditure, with a percentage comparison of 54 per cent to 46 per cent respectively.
He explained that the budget estimate was based on a benchmark of $45 per barrel and a daily production of 2.3bn barrel per day as well as the increase in the internally generated revenue.
Leaning on the assumptions made for the federal budget, Obaseki said that the state expected an increase from N48.7bn in 2017 to N57.5bn in 2018 in terms of statutory allocations. And VAT revenues of N11bn from the estimate of N10bn in 2017.
