Lawrence Nwimo, Awka
A Citizen and Non-state Actors stakeholders group, Anambra Civil Society Network (ACSONET), has commended Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo for timely presentation of Anambra State draft budget estimates to the House of Assembly.
Leader of the group, Prince Chris Azor, who doubles as Non-State Actors Co-chair, stated this while addressing newsmen during the event.
Comrade Azor advised the Governor to go a notch further and make a public presentation of the draft budget estimates at a stakeholders town hall meeting, in compliance with global democratic best practice.
“The budget is supposed to come from the needs of the citizens. It’s therefore, imperative to formally present it to the people who own the sovereignty. This should be done by the Governor or his designated appointee, through an all encompassing stakeholders forum, for acceptance and ownership,” he said.
Recall that Governor Soludo, on 10th of November, 2022, presented the Appropriation Bill of draft Budget Estimates of the state for the year ending, 31st of December 2023, to the state House of Assembly.
The draft budget tagged, Budget of Acceleration, has about N259.0 billion with a capital budget of N163.5 billion accounting for 63.1% while the recurrent expenditure of N95.5 billion accounts for 36.9%, with a deficit of N13.0 billion.
After robust debate at the hallowed chambers of the State Assembly, the draft budget estimates passed second reading, and was referred to the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation for further legislative action.
