Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, has presented the sum of 242.2 billion Naira as budget estimate for the 2020 fiscal year to the State House of Assembly for consideration and expeditious passage.
The document, which is christened ” Budget of Consolidation for Prosperity 2020″ with capital projects gulping 46.7 billion Naira, Governor Diri said the state will collaborate with the Federal Government, Central Bank of Nigeria, and International Monetary Agencies to drive the budget to its logical conclusion.
It is the first time the State Governor will be presenting the Budget of the state, two months he was sworn in as the fifth executive Governor of Bayelsa State.
Before giving a breakdown of the Budget estimate for the 2020 fiscal year, Governor Diri noted that with the current realities on ground and the sharp drop on crude oil price due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government must cut cost and focus on alternative sources of funding.
The Budget was allotted to works and infrastructure, agriculture, health, and education topping the scale of preference.
Speaker of the House, Abraham Ingobere, assured the Governor of expeditious passage to enable the government meet up with the needs of governance.
The 2020 Budget estimate is, however, less than that of 2019 which had 275.8 billion Naira with a difference of N33 billion. This drop, the Governor attributed to the prevailing economic downturn of global health pandemic.