Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom on Tuesday presented a budget of N435.65 billion for the 2021 Financial Year to the state House of Assembly for consideration.
The proposed budget is higher than that of the current 2020 revised appropriation of N366 million by N69.65 billion.
The appropriation bill comprised of N158.40 billion as recurrent expenditure, N226.96 billion as capital expenditure and N50.29 as consolidated revenue.
Emmanuel said that the total projected recurrent revenue for 2021 is estimated at N255.03 billion as against the approved revised provision of N203.56 billion for 2020.
In the 2021 fiscal year, the bill tagged “Budget of Economic Reconstruction”, the governor said that N208.68 billion “is proposed as recurrent expenditure’’.
This is made up of personnel costs of N56.54 billion, overhead costs of N101.86 billion and N50.28 billion for consolidated revenue fund charges.
The governor said that the preparation of the budget was guided by the International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS).
According to him, the budget will have moved very close to actualising the dreams and aspirations of his administration to transform the state from a “Civil Service” state to an industrialised one.
He said that the 2021 budget was predicated on an oil benchmark of $40 per barrel at a production rate of 1.86 million barrels per day.
It was also predicated on an estimated exchange rate of N379/US$, in line with the National Budget benchmark projections.
Emmanuel listed rapid industrialisation and opening of new areas of growth and development as objectives of the 2021 budget.
These objectives, he said, would be pursued through intense and coordinated efforts to increase internally generated revenues.
He further said that the budget was conceived to make Akwa Ibom less dependent on allocations from the Federal Government.
He said that education, being a key component of the Human Capital Development of his administration’s ‘Competition Agenda’, would be given a pride of place.
“Our children must be made ready to compete with their peers and distilled to be a part of the global march to apply science and technology to create job and wealth for themselves,’’ Emmanuel said.
According to him, the policy thrust of the budget will focus on the key pillars of the completion agenda.
He said that the budget would also boost the productivity of local businesses through the promotion of trade, commerce and tourism.
The governor also said that the 2021 policy objectives of the budget also aimed to develop agriculture through the supply of improved agricultural inputs, credit and extension services.
In his remarks, Speaker of the Assembly, Mr Aniekan Bassey, assured the governor that the lawmakers would ensure speedy passage of the appropriation bill.
