Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has given his assent to the 2024 Appropriation Bill totaling N567.2 billion, recently endorsed by the State House of Assembly, as reported by AbnTV.
In a significant move, Governor Otti, while signing the bill on Thursday, December 28, 2023, emphasized that the 2024 Budget is a crucial step towards elevating Abia from its current state of underdevelopment to a trajectory of comprehensive growth. The chief press secretary to the Governor, Kazie Uko, conveyed this sentiment in a statement released to the press on Thursday. The approved budget reflects the state’s commitment to fostering development across various sectors.
“I want to say that this is a budget that would take Abia State out of underdevelopment to development. The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. This is the first step, once we get things right, and we know we will get them right, the next few years will be Uhuru for all our people, those living here and those who come from here and our friends,” the Governor was quoted to have declared.
He noted that the budget ratio of 84% for capital expenditure and 16% for recurrent was not a mistake but a deliberate plan to accelerate the growth of Abia’s economy within a short space of time.
“That we devoted 84% of the budget to capital expenditure is not an error. If you went through the details of the budget, you will find out that every kobo we intend to borrow will go into infrastructure or be mapped out to infrastructure. Our discussions are on and we believe that as we require the funding, we will get them,” he affirmed.
The Governor maintained that every money borrowed to finance the budget would be channeled to capital expenditure, adding that the budget is expected to excite foreign and local investment, spur large-scale and medium businesses, secure the State, and prepare Abia for the next level of development.
Governor Otti commended the Speaker and members of the State House of Assembly for a great job done, which led to the expeditious passage of the bill.
Earlier, the Speaker of the House, Rt Hon. Emmanuel Emeruwa, who affirmed that 84% of the budget is for capital expenditure while 16% is for recurrent expenditure, said that the budget would touch the lives of Abia people positively.
According to him the aim of passing the budget before the 31st of December 2023 is to ensure that the 2024 Budget becomes operational from the 1st of January 2024
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