Rivers Assembly passes 2020 budget of N530,813b

In a bid to ensure that the state government sustains the current level of development across the state and deliver more next year, Rivers State House of Assembly Assembly has passed into law the N530,813 billion Appropriation Bill for the year 2020.

The passage of the Bill, which is made up of N156,659,436,569 recurrent expenditure and N374,153,920,743 as capital expenditure followed debates by the lawmakers and presentation of the report of House Committee on Appropriation/Supply by its Chairman, who is also the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon Ikunyi Ibani.

According to Ibani, the passage of the budget is to ensure the sustained development of the state from January to December 2020. He added that the House worked on the budget to create the platform for immediate implementation.

His words, “In undertaking this sacrifice, we want to ensure that our people from January 1 have access to the dividends of democracy and the government will hit the ground running. The clerk should liaise with the legal department to get a clean copy for presentation to the Governor for his assent.”

According to the Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Ehie Edison, the budget will enhance the transformation of Rivers State, as key projects have been outlined for the development of the State. He added that the 2020 Budget captures all sectors of the state’s economy.

“With the 2020 budget, Rivers State will remain on the path of development,” he said.

Expressing joy over the swift passage of the budget, which included eight billion funds for the new minimum wage, Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Martins Amaehwule, stated that with the passage, Rivers will be among the first state to ensure workers receive the new minimum wages.