DELTA State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, yesterday, signed the state’s 2016 appropriation bill of N267 billion, as amended by the state House of Assembly, into law with an assurance to generate revenue to fund the budget.

Giving the breakdown of the budget that was first sent to the state Assembly on December 15, 2015 and passed into law January 12, 2016, with a recurrent expenditure of N153 billion and capital expenditure of N114 billion, Okowa said that the state government had targeted to increase its Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, by about 90 percent from what it was the previous year.

The governor commended the state legislature for the speedy passage of the budget and promised to utilise the dry season in the infrastructural development plan by ensuring quick implementation of the budget.

He said: “This budget that has been assented to in good time, gives us enough room to utilise the dry season for our infrastructure development plans and I must appreciate the Speaker and members of Delta State House of Assembly for taking their time during the festive season to truly work on the budget, ensuring that we had a very speedy passage of the budget.

“I am aware that they took the various ministries in their various sessions and except for some places where we had some minor issues and they had to make minor adjustment, the budget has actually returned to us almost the same. But I appreciate them more for actually being able to detect that we failed to make provision for the ongoing reconstruction of the airport in Asaba and they had to make provisions for that. And that is why there is a little difference between the figure that was presented to them and what we have today.”

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