The Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, has presented the 2020 Appropriation Bill of N124, 724,869,355.95 to the House of Assembly.
The bill, which is christened ‘Budget of Deliverables’, has N53,538,093,806.59 (43 per cent) as capital expenditure, while the recurrent expenditure is N71,186,775,549.36 (57 per cent).
Fayemi said the budget was tailored after his administration’s five-pillar agenda for development, which is aimed at enhancing good governance and speedy economic transformation of the State.
The breakdown of the budget along the five pillars give Agriculture and Rural Development N3,677,992,233.29 (three per cent), Knowledge Economy N24,704,934,736.29 (20 per cent); Social Investments N11,188,372,994.37 (nine per cent), Infrastructure and Industrial Development N39,728,043,550.73 (32 per cent), and Governance N45,425,522,841.27 (36 per cent).
According to the governor, the proposed budget will provide a platform for the implementation of his administration’s cardinal objectives as covered in the five pillars, adding that the administration has not wavered from its determination to revamp the socio-economic environment through “distinctive measures and approaches which are conceptualised and aligned with the fiscal framework of the state.”
He said the state’s budget system had been upgraded to conform to global standards, as the document transited from cash-based budgeting to International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS).
“The administration has embarked on several laudable projects and programmes which will undoubtedly impact lives of the people of the state.
“Our numerous development partners, who left the state as a result of the inconducive environment for partnership in the last administration, are not only back but have signed pacts with our administration to develop Ekiti State.”
The governor disclosed that the support from development partners include the 1,000km rural roads that would be constructed under the Rural Access and Agriculture Marketing Programme (RAMP) of the World Bank and the French Development Agency (AFD).
The project, which, according to him, will commence in January 2020 as soon as the financing arrangement is signed, will generate employment opportunities, provide reliable access and cost-efficient transport system that will facilitate the delivery of agricultural inputs and services to increase productivity.
Fayemi disclosed his administration’s plan to establish a new special public works programme aimed at recruiting 1,000 youths who would be paid N20,000 monthly on rural-community projects, among other social investments.
Speaker of the Assembly, Funminiyi Afuye, expressed optimism that the 2020 budget would bring economic prosperity and drive the development of all parts of the state.
