Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta on Wednesday assented to the state’s 2024 Appropriation Bill of N724.97 billion.

Mr Oborevwori signed the bill at the Government House, watched by the speaker, the State House of Assembly, Emomotimi Guwor, and other principal officers of the house and executive members.

According to him, the approved budget is made up of N316.62 billion for recurrent expenditure and N408.35 billion for capital expenditure.

He said that the budget, tagged “Budget of Hope and Optimism,” was geared towards putting the economy of the state on the path of sustainable growth.

“It would also boost both domestic and direct foreign investments and productivity and enhance the ease of doing business in the state,” he said.

Mr Oborevwori underscored the significance of the budget, saying that “the law provides a veritable foundation for the sustainable delivery of our social and economic pact—the M.O.R.E. Agenda—to the good people of Delta.”

He said, “I am happy to welcome you to this budget signing.

“I am happy because this time last year, I stood here to present the 2023 budget for assent as speaker, but by the grace of God, I am sitting here as governor of Delta to assent to the bill.

“We have allocated 44 per cent and 56 per cent of the budget to recurrent and capital expenditure, respectively, amounting to a total budget size of N724.97 billion.

“The budget is very key to the developmental programme of the state and the budget we signed today is less than 12 per cent compared to that of 2023.

“In preparing these estimates, we were very mindful of the current economic realities, thus the evident 12 per cent reduction in the size of this budget when compared to that of 2023.“

According to him, we are cutting down on recurrent expenditures to free up much-needed funds for the sustainable financing of our critical infrastructure and human capital.

“These would allow for the ease of doing business, attract domestic and direct foreign investments, and improve productivity, thus sustaining the growth of our domestic economy.

“By the grace of God, since the commencement of our administration in the past six months, we have not borrowed and we are paying our contractors and meeting all our obligations,” the governor said.

He commended the speaker and members of the assembly for their support and cooperation in the interest of the state.

He said, “The budget will help control the effects of inflation through fiscal discipline, judicious allocation of resources, and accelerated infrastructural development.

“It will stimulate growth in the non-oil sector and make the economy more resilient to external shocks.

“The budget will further enhance the business competitiveness of the state by nurturing and promoting the growth of micro, Small and medium enterprises, creating employment and raising the productivity of the state’s land, labour and capital assets.

“Let me assure our people of faithful implementation of the 2024 budget.

“This administration is focused, process driven and result-oriented in its governance style.

“The progress that we have made in the last six months should give hope to our people that the goals we have set in this budget will be pursued with similar zeal and dedication.”

In a remark, the speaker said that the bill was presented to the house on November 29 and passed on December 14, after passing through all legislative processes.

He said the budget as passed aligned with the state’s policy direction of fiscal discipline, sustainable growth, investment, productivity, transparency, accountability and efficient and effective service delivery. 

(NAN)