Signing the bill at the Government House, yesterday, Obaseki commended the state House of Assembly for their collaboration, noting that the greater part of the budget would be used for capital projects to drive further development in the state.
He said: “A fortnight ago, I came to the House to present the last budget in the life of this administration which we termed, ‘Finishing Well Budget’ and proposed an appropriation of N342 billion.
“I want to thank the House who worked tirelessly to ensure we achieved this today. I am aware of the diligent work in ensuring that the bill is signed and passed into law today in good record time before the end of the financial year.
“The greater percentage of this budget is going to be used for capital projects affecting our people in the state, and less than 50 per cent will go for running of government and recurrent expenditure. We appreciate you for the progressive stand taken in this budget.”
Obaseki continued: “I want to assure you that this government is going to be prudent and disciplined in terms of financial behaviour. As a government, we ensure we fulfill and meet all our financial obligations. We meet our commitments as and when due. That is why we are able to pay salaries and benefits of staff on time.
“From what we have seen from this appropriation law, we are going to complete all priority projects we embarked on. No government can complete the entire work in the life of any state or country; it’s a continuous process. But for those things we set out to do, we will surely complete them and not leave any abandoned projects.”
On his part, the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Blessing Agbebaku, said: “Your Excellency, you presented your budget some time ago which you tagged ‘Budget of Finishing Well’. We are here today to present the finished work of the budget to you. We have all party members here, both the PDP, Labour and APC. It’s a total agreement on the budget”.
“This budget captured all spheres of administration of this state; it captured both the young, old, poor, rich, vulnerable and everybody in the state and also captured all the projects that intend to be executed in various constituencies.”
