The 2019 Appropriation Bill presented by the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike to the Rivers State House of Assembly has passed first reading on the floor of the House yesterday.
Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani described the budget as one full of hope for the people of the state.
In his words, “Rivers State has taken off in the past three years. We have seen development in all sectors, and it is the spirit embedded in the budget that gives us hope as legislators”.
Rt. Hon. Ibani said from the proposal so far placed before the Assembly, all sectors of the economy are well taken care of, noting that, “the cardinal objectives of the budget will enhance job opportunities, employment for the citizenry”.
He promised that the bill be given serious attention especially in tandem with the Medium Term Expenditure Framework recently approved by the House.
On his part, Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Martins Amaewhule commended members for attending the plenary and for their commitment towards the state development.
While presenting the appropriation bill, Chief Wike proposed N480 billion for next year’s budget.
Tagged, “Budget of Sustainable Growth and Development”, Capital Expenditure gulped the highest share with N323.2 billion. Recurrent has N157 billion.
A further breakdown shows that the Social Sector had N170 billion, Health N25 billion, Works N72 billion, while Security had N18 billion.
Other sectors that received attention include Administration with N17 billion, Law/Justice N4.3 billion.
The budget according to Wike will be funded with projected Federal allocated revenue, Value Added Tax (VAT), credit and loans and internally generated revenue.
The governor explained that other projections for the budget will be hinged on oil production of N2 million barrels per day, N10.9 inflation rate as against 9 percent projected by the Federal government.
He maintained that the budget will be focused on job creation, human capital development, water and sanitation and improving transport infrastructure in the State.
Presenting the 2019 Appropriation Bill to the House, Wike said the strategic thrust for the 2019 budget is to promote economic growth and diversification, create jobs and reduce unemployment; take as many of Rivers people out of poverty and improve the standard of living of Rivers State.
The budget is premised on an oil price bench mark of 55 United States Dollars per barrel, which is 5 dollars lower than that of the Federal Government.
The 2019 Rivers State Budget is Christened: “Budget of Sustainable Growth and Development.”
The governor proposed N323, 288,970,085.00 as capital expenditure, while Recurrent Expenditure will gulp N157, 122,354,564.15.
He said: “The capital allocation of 323,288,970,085.00 for the 2019 fiscal year represents 65 per cent of the total budget. This sum is however less than the figure for 2018 by N57, 708,717,319.00 due to the reduction in the total size of the 2019 budget as against that of 2018.
He said because the 2019 Appropriation Bill has set priorities for human capital development and infrastructural provision, a substantial part of the capital budget is allocated to the Ministries of Agriculture; Education; Employment Generation and Empowerment; Health; Sports Development; Women Affairs; Works; and Youth Development.
The governor proposed N72, 911,765,640.21 billion naira for the construction and improvement of the State’s road network and transport infrastructure.
He said: ”This sum, which constitute about 24 per cent of the total capital budget, will be utilized to continue with the funding of the construction and completion of roads”.
The sectoral allocation of the capital budget is as follows: (Proposed) Administration Sector; N17, 820,704,443.79 ,Economic Sector: N99, 053,565,640.20 ; Law and Justice Sector; N 4,350,000,000.00; Social Sector; N127, 292,200,000.00 and ; Special Heads, N50, 347,500,000.00; Loan Repayments , N24, 425,000,000.00.
Wike said the following roads will be completed in 2019. They include: the dualization of Kira – Sakpenwa – Bori – Kono road; the Andoni – Opobo Unity road; the Oyigbo town – Ebete road; Tema – Ifoko road the Mbano camp road; Eleme – Obete road; Eteo – Sime – Bayayira-Nonwa-Kira road; Rumuji – Ibaa – obele – isiokpo road; Akabuka – Omoku road; Flyover bridge at Garisson Junction abd Abonnema ring road.
Others are: Abua-Degema – Emoh-Iyak-Ighom-Elok road; Ula Ehuda – Odioku – Anwunugboko – Ubeta – Ihuechi – Odiereke road; Rumuche road in Emouha Local Government Area; Flyover bridge at Rumuokwuta roundabout; Flyover bridge at University of Port Harcourt Junction
Ahoada – Odiemerenyi – Ihugbogo-odieke road; Isiodu roads , Ahoada – Ekpena road; Omoku-Aligwu-Kreigani-Oduoboburu road, Odieku internal roads; Bolo internal roads; Rumukpakani internal roads; and
Umuogba – Umuokpurukpu – Umueke – Umunju Umuelechi – Eberi roundabout link road.
He proposed the sum of N17,112,000,000.00 for the Bureau for Special Projects to fund the completion of land reclamation at Bakana in Degema Local Government Area, land reclamation at Abalama in Asari Toru Local Government Area; land reclamation and shore protection at Kula in Akuku Toru Local Government Area; the Secretariat buildings for Trade Union Congress, Nigeria Labour Congress, National Union of Rivers State Students and Rivers State Students Union Government; and the Fruit Garden market in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area.
The governor stated the administration
allocated the sum of N25, 300,000,000.00 to fund healthcare delivery in the State. He said key projects in the sector will be completed and delivered in 2019.
Wike said his administration will continue to give security of lives and property all the attention that it deserves in spite of the obvious lack of cooperation from the Federal Government.
He said: “ The sum of 18,000,000,000.00 has been proposed to fund all aspects of securing and keeping Rivers State safe, peaceful and secure, including the operationalization of the recently established State Neighbourhood Safety Corps programme.
”The Neighbourhood Safety Corps programme is very dear to us as a government. Apart from the number of youths that it will employ, the programme has the potential to enhance our collective security. And so we are prepared to do whatever it will take to ensure its implementation in the course of 2019″.
Wike noted that the sum of N4, 350,000,000.00 only has been proposed for the Law and Justice sector to further strengthen and enhance the justice delivery system in the State.
For the recurrent expenditure, Governor Wike proposed to spend as follows: Personnel Emolument , N79, 585,058,808.60; Overhead
N 17, 025,380,000.00; Pension N 33,000,000,000.00 and Others
N27,511,915,255.55.
Through the recurrent proposals, Governor Wike accommodated the expected new minimum wage for the state and the handling of the pension challenges facing the state.
Wike said: “ With this, the State Government will be in a position to pay the minimum wage whenever the National Assembly approves it. We also made provisions for staff promotion arrears and new recruitments into the State’s civil service.
“The sum of 33,000,000,000.00 is proposed for the settlement of pension liabilities. The challenge about the plight of pensioners has lingered for too long and we are determined to tackle it this time around. Certainly, our senior citizens deserve better treatment than what they are presently getting”.
The 2019 Rivers State Budget will be financed as follows: Internally Generated Revenue N120, 492,891,302.00 ,Statutory Allocation
N73, 169,813,022.00 : 13% oil minerals fund; N145, 070,991,780.00 ;Value Added Tax; N26, 377,628,543.00 ;Refunds ; N27, 337,926,155.08 ;Local Credits; N45, 000,000,000.00; International Credits; N30, 000,000,000.00; Capital receipts; N300, 000,000.00 Exchange gain; N8,000,000,000.00 Prior year Balance; N4,662,073,844.92: N480, 411,324,647,00
Wike said for the 2018 Budget as at November 2018, total revenue receipts from all sources (except internal and external loans) stood at 288,721,423,336, which represents about 79 per cent performance on the revenue side with respect to the totally projected IGR and FAAC receipts for 2018.
The governor said that the aggregate capital releases to MDAs as at November 2018 stood at over 65 per cent of the total capital expenditure.
He said despite inheriting a collapsed economy from the immediate past APC administration in the state, his administration has revived the state’s economy.
He said: “We came in with a clear vision and mission: a vision to repair and renew the promise of our State; a mission to pull our people from the cesspool of despair and restore our hopes for brighter future.
“Three and half years after, we have substantially achieved our commitments on all directions of human advancement.
Under our watch, Rivers State has emerged from the brink of economic disaster to an era of fiscal sustainability. Today, our Gross Domestic product has increased and our economy is growing at a rate above the national average and attracting new investments even when the national economy continues to be weak, wobbly and troubling.
“Under our guardianship, we have invested at record levels to provide critical social and economic infrastructure across the State; especially roads, schools, and health facilities.
In the process, we created hundreds of thousands of jobs across the construction value chain”.
He said the 2019 budget is intended to consolidate on the administration’s achievements and enable it to put the State on an irreversible path to sustainable economic growth and development.
Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Mr Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani said the House will give the budget the required consideration in the interest of the state.
He noted that the House has already approved the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, which will form the basis of the budget’s consideration.
The budget passed through its first reading after the State Governor laid the budget on the table.