The Delta State 2016 Appropriation Bill presented to the state House of Assembly by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa,Tuesday, has passed its second reading on the floor of the House.
The passage followed the conclusion of debates by the lawmakers on the merits of the bill during Wednesday’s plenary.
Majority Leader of the House, Tim Owhefere, while leading debate on the merits of the bill, said the appropriation law was key to the good governance of the state, hence the decision of the leadership of the House to attend to it 24 hours after its presentation.
Owhefere said the N265.6 billion budget estimates with a breakdown of N153 billion for recurrent expenditure and N112 billion for capital expenditure, would cater to the needs of all Deltans.
He stated that the proposed budget, christened Budget of Renewed Hope and Inclusive Government, was based on the expected revenue, adding that the state government had ensured that the mistakes of the past where unrealistic budgets were approved were avoided.
Owhefere emphasized that the state would witness enhanced growth and development in 2016 based on the new approach to governance by the Okowa-led government, saying that funds accruing to the state would be judiciously used as clearly highlighted in the budget estimates.
The Majority Leader pointed out that payment of salaries, overhead costs, capital projects and several other areas of expected expenditures were all well taken care of in the proposed budget.
Dwelling more on the importance of the 2016 appropriation law to the state, Mr. Samuel Mariere, Ughelli North 1, Efe Ofobruku, Uvwie, Daneil Yingi, Burutu 1 and Reuben Izeze, Ughelli South, commended the proactive measures contained in the budget towards enhancing quality of lives in the state.
They stated that the proposed budget reflected the realities on ground, saying that the era of over bloated budgeting in the state was over and must not be reintroduced into the system of governance in the state.
Chatting with Newsmen on the budget, Hon Sheriff Oborevwori while appreciating the budgetary allocations to some key sub-sectors, including Agriculture, road infrastructure and environment, aid government must introduce measures that would promote the diversification of the state economy, particularly with the challenge of crashing oil prices.
Oborevwori observed that the welfare of civil servants in the state was captured in the proposed budget, which according to him, had put to rest the fear of possible retrenchment and down sizing of the state workforce as being envisaged in some states.
He commended Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for presenting a welfarist budget for the state, saying that the proposed budget seeks to achieve success based on what the state can afford rather than what it desired.
Meanwhile, no member spoke against the bill on the floor of the House which led to its unanimous adoption for the second reading to allow for other legislative actions on the bill.
The leadership of the House immediately directed the House committee on finance and appropriation to work with the other standing committees to get the budget ready for committee of whole House in the next two weeks.
