The Benue House of Assembly on Wednesday passed the 2023 budget of N179.750 billion.

The budget was passed on the floor of the house during plenary.

Governor Samuel Ortom presented the 2023 appropriation bill of N179.750 billion to the state assembly on November 8, 2022.

Leading debate on the appropriation bill before the passage at the Committee of Supply, the chairman of the Appropriation Committee, Peter Enemari (Ogbadibo/PDP), said some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) still indulged in the unconstitutional act of extra-budgetary expenditures despite the previous resolution against such by the house.

He recommended that the house committees refrain from relentlessly advising MDAs against extra-budgetary expenditures.

The house, therefore, approved a recurrent expenditure of N106.191 billion while capital expenditure stood at N73.558 billion.

The house also approved deficit financing to be N40 billion.

After contributions by members in favour of the bill, Deputy Speaker Christopher Adaji, who presided over the plenary, invited the clerk of the house, Benard Nule, to read it for the third time, and it was accordingly passed.

(NAN)