Ortom presents 2022 budget of N155.6b to Benue Assembly

Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, yesterday, presented a budget of N155,611,390,265.82 to the House of Assembly for the 2022 fiscal year.

Ortom pegged recurrent expenditure at N98,792,082,431.34 and capital expenditure at N56,819,307,834.48. Christened ‘Budget of Advancement and Growth’, the estimate is N21,235,872,856 (13.6 per cent) higher than that of 2021.

According to the governor, the budget is expected to focus on programmes and projects that would take the state further along on the path of economic self-reliance in Nigeria.

He noted that his administration would continue to use the budget as an instrument to achieve the goals set out in the Benue State Development Plan 2016-2025.

“We will intensify our quest to create opportunities for jobs and wealth for our farmers and entrepreneurs, while supporting our hard-pressed farmers and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to grow their operations.”

“We will seek to complete ongoing projects, promote community mobilisation for development security, and further invest in education, skills development and healthcare to ensure that we have the 21st century human capital that is suitable for the opportunities in this rapidly changing digital world,” Ortom added.

Speaker of the assembly, Titus Uba, while receiving the budget, urged members to graciously study the document for onward approval and assent to move the state forward.nor, represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Umar Babale, commended the commission for identifying with communities affected by flooding of the River Niger.

According to him, the state government is doing its best to see that other problematic areas highlighted by the commission for intervention, particularly schools, are taken care of.