Ike Nnachi, Abakaliki
Ebonyi State governor, David Umahi, on Monday presented the 2022 Appropriation bill of N139,398,280,640.00 to the State House of Assembly.
Tagged “Budget of Divine Mandate Consolidation and Continuity (C to C),” the governor said revenue to finance the budget is expected to come from the federal allocation and other revenue heads.
He noted that his administration will implement about 41.67 percent of the budget
“This budget is a transition budget which means that it will be implemented by this administration and the next. The current administration would implement 41.67% while the next would implement 58.33%.”
“The budget estimate is a total of One Hundred and Thirty-Nine Billion, Three Hundred and Ninety-Eight Thousand, Two Hundred and Eighty Thousand Six Hundred and Forty Naira, only (N139,398,280,640.00),” he said.
Umahi noted that the budget consists of a Recurrent Expenditure of Fifty-Eight Billion, Three Hundred Sixty-Seven Million, Seven Hundred Seventy-Four Thousand Four Hundred and Sixty-Eight Naira (N58,367,774,468.00), covering 41.87% of the total budget.
He said Eighty-One Billion, Thirty Million, Five Hundred Six Thousand, One Hundred and Seventy-Two Naira (N81,030,506,172.00), covering 58.13% of the total budget estimate is earmarked for capital expenditure.
A breakdown shows that personnel cost is Twenty-Six Billion, Eight Hundred, Ninety-Four Million, Three Hundred, Eighty-Four Thousand Four Hundred and Sixty-Eight Naira (N26,894,384,468.00) covering 19.29% of the total budget.
Overhead cost will gulp Thirty-One Billion, Four Hundred Seventy-Three Million, Three Hundred and Ninety Thousand Naira (N31,473,390,000.00) covering 22.58% of the total budget.
Mr Umahi noted that the 2023 budget proposal is 4.13% less than the 2022 original budget of N145b.
He said the budget is aimed at addressing the challenges observed so far in the implementation of the 2022 original budget.
The governor explained that they decrease in the budget from the 2022 budget is because of some revenue line items that will no longer be expected or will be at least minimal in the year 2023. He listed some of them to include items such as the IPPIS PAYE refunds to States of the Federation, and the SFTAS World Bank Grant Program.
Mr Umahi however noted that there are also several new revenue sources expected in the year 2023 outside of the State Government share of Federal allocation
“Of note is the revenue expected from the Concession of the Ebonyi State International Airport; we have budgeted ₦25,000,000,000.00 for this.
“With the completion and commissioning the Ebonyi Shopping Mall, we anticipate significant revenue generation in 2023, we expect to receive no less than ₦1,000,000,000.00 from this source.
“We have also budgeted ₦5,444,625,000.00 for the SEBAR program, which is a new performance for results World Bank programme based on the ease of doing business.
“A Grant that the State Government is very keen on is the Immunization Plus and Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Transforming Services (IMPACT) Project which is a program with the objective to reduce under five mortality rates in participating States (We have budgeted ₦871,140,000.00 for this).
“To address gaps in collection of taxes on consumables, a 4% Consumption tax will be introduced in 2023 (We have budgeted ₦200,000,000.00 as our expected receipt),” he said.
The governor noted that the Ministry of Finance (19.17%) will have the highest allocation followed by Works/Transport (15.56%) and Education (15.37%) ministries.
He explained that the Finance Ministry’s high budget is because the State will service some loans it inherited in addition to commence servicing the ring road project loan his administration took.
