Governor Agbu Kefas of Taraba on Friday presented a N311 billion appropriation bill for the 2024 fiscal year to the state House of Assembly.

A breakdown of the budget estimate shows that N111.6 billion, representing 39.5 per cent, was provided for recurrent expenditure, while N199.9, representing 64.1 per cent, was for capital expenditure.

Mr Kefas listed the sectoral allocation, with education having the highest allocation of N43.2 billion, representing 13.9 per cent of the budget.

He said health followed with N33.5 billion, representing 10.6 per cent and works, allocated N24.8 billion, representing 8.0 per cent.

The governor further said the budget was anchored on the five-finger agenda of his administration, which includes education, security, women and youth development, infrastructure, and health.

He further said the budget would focus on education, including teachers’ training, improvement of schools, and many other interventions.

Mr Kefas said a five per cent statutory deduction was from the state revenue to the ‘Greening Taraba Project’ to preserve the state’s natural beauty and mitigate the effect of climate change.

Earlier, the speaker of the House, Kizito Bonzena, acknowledged the good working relationship between the executive and the legislature.

Mr Bonzena, therefore, promised speedy passage of the budget to keep up with the January to December timeframe.

The state initially had a N150 billion budget for 2023, with N206 billion supplementary budget.

(NAN)