Governor of Ondo State, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has signed the 2017 Appropriation Bill into law, THE PRECISION has learnt.
In a statement by the Press Officer, Ministry of Budget and Planning, Sola Omoboyowa, the governor signed the budget at the Cocoa Conference Hall, Governor’s office, Akure following the approval granted by the Ondo State House of Assembly as presented to it by the Governor.
Signing the budget, Mr Akeredolu said the huge deficit being experienced by the state would soon be tackled by his administration.
He said in the signed budget, debt service gulps N8.127 billion, statutory transfers gulps N8.374 billion, recurrent expenditure gulps N95.159 billion and capital expenditure gulps N59.187 billion, thus making a total of 170, 846, 580.00.
In his words, “the state was currently facing serious financial challenge as a result of low Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), new strategies would be employed to improve the state’s revenue.
“This administration is not unmindful of the dire challenges faced by it, with regards to budget implementation, mainly due to paucity of funds. We are however determined to improve our fiscal circumstances substantially through revenue generation,” he said.
The Governor also noted that there is need to invest in the future, adding that the tax base of the state will be expanded with a view to generating more revenue for the state.
He therefore called on the people of the state to cooperate with the government to achieve the desire goals.
Earlier in his remarks, the speaker of Ondo state House of Assembly, Hon. Bamidele Oleyeloogun said that the budget of N168 billion was presented to the House by the Governor and after scrutiny, the House made adjustment to it which summed the budget up to N170 billion.
Mr Oleyeloogun stated that the adjustment was to cater for the needs of the state owned tertiary institutions.
In the same vein, the Permanent Sectary Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, Chris Kolawole said the budget will be of tremendous benefit to the people of Ondo State.
Mr Kolawole appreciated efforts put in place by all stakeholders who took part in the process that ensures the budget was passed and signed into law, noting that the budget will meet the aspirations of the people of the state.
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