Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma has signed into law the 2020 revised budget of N108,385,836,130.
Signing the document at the Imo State Executive Council Chambers, Government House, Owerri, the governor said the “revised 2020 Imo State Budget of rehabilitation, reconstruction and recovery heralds a fresh page, with great promise in the fiscal history of our great state, Imo.”
Uzodimma described it as “a new dawn, a new day and a great new beginning,” and enjoined the prosperity team to be “proud of the glorious new day which comes with its attendant responsibilities and challenges.”
He expressed gratitude to the Speaker of the state House of Assembly Chiji Collins and the entire lawmakers for their prompt and diligent attendance to duty and sacrifice in ensuring that the 2020 revised budget is passed into law on time.
The governor gave an insight into the reasons for the revised budget, saying it was predicated on two reasons: the downward oil prices that have made the original budget unattainable and the revised National Medium Term Expenditure Framework (NMTEF) which is an agreement between Nigeria and the World Bank to help fund the short falls arising from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic through its SFTAFS (State Fiscal Transparency Accountability For Sustainability) Programme.
He said for states to benefit from SFTAFS there is a lot of conditions attached to it which include but not limited to revised budget where COVID-19 related expenses must be at least 10 per cent of total budget. According to him, such conditions and more are all captured in the revised 2020 Imo State approved budget.
In addition, Uzodimma said the state has commissioned online publication of the citizens’ budget and first quarter 2020 report on budget performance.
He said it is in line with his promise to Imo people to run a transparent people-oriented governance and that he is glad that with the above, Imo State is now qualified to receive the sum of $300,000 and $1 million respectively from the World Bank as an encouragement for running an open, transparent government.
Making further clarifications on why the budget was revised downwards, Speaker Collins said it is as a result of the prevailing circumstances all over the world today, especially the nose-dive in the prices of oil at the international market which has brought undue pressures on foreign earnings and consequent reductions in federal allocations to states and local governments.
The sectoral approvals that came from the House of Assembly reduced the recurrent expenditure by 30.7 per cent, capital expenditure revised down wards from N106.28 billion to N44.96 billion. Economic sector experienced 7.7 per cent reduction, social services revised to N7.19 billion representing 66 per cent decrease, general administration lost 25.5 per cent as a result of the revised budget, while N1.15 billion is made available for COVID-19 pandemic in the general administration sector of the budget.
Also, government transfers were reviewed upwards to N4.248 billion as against N4.146 billion representing 25 per cent increase in the total provisions of government transfers.
The revised 2020 capital expenditure stands at N44,966,099,871 which represents 41 per cent of the revised budget size.
Present at the signing were the Deputy Governor of Imo State Prof. Placid Njoku, principal officers of the state House of Assembly, Secretary to the State Government Cosmos Iwu, Chief of Staff to the Governor Nnamdi Anyiaehie, and other members of the expanded executive council.
