Governor Wike signs N300.37bn revised Rivers 2020 budget
Assures commitment to delivering quality projects
GOVERNOR NYESOM WIKE of Rivers State has signed into law the revised 2020 appropriation bill of the oil-rich state, after the state House of Assembly had earlier in May reviewed the budget down by 48 percent. The new appropriation now stands at N300.37 billion from the initial N530.81 billion.
Martin Amaewhule, majority leader of the house, presented the budget to the governor at Government House, Port Harcourt. He said the total figure of the revised budget for 2020 fiscal year is N300,370,071,183.33, showing a 48 percent reduction from the N530,813,357,619.00 billion originally budgeted for spending.
Governor Wike said the unfortunate effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in Nigeria, necessitated the review. He said the implication of the budget review is that budgetary allocations, including capital and recurrent expenditures have been reduced.
He said, however, this would not affect the projects being undertaken, major among which are four flyover bridges under construction by Julius Berger, the Nigerian affiliate of German construction company, Bilfinger.
“It is most unfortunate that everybody is living a different life now because of the pandemic, which calls for us to face the economic reality. The COVID-19 has affected economic activities and revenues of government, and so, it became necessary to review our budget. By the revised budget, it means that so many things have to change. We have cut down the capital and recurrent expenditures to face the reality,” the governor said.
He also said the state government did not cut down the salaries of political appointees and elected officers, unlike other subnationals. Virtually all the federating states have cut down salaries of political appointees by 20 percent to 30 percent.
Governor Wike said, having cut down the recurrent expenditures, the overhead will no longer be the same. He also said his administration was determined to ensure that the proposed reconstruction of the Assembly quarters was realized. The work would be handled by Julius Berger, as the governor said, “we want something that will stand the test of time.”
According to him: “A good living environment and quality houses will enhance input and services to the state,” promising that he would release the balance of funds for the 2018 constituency projects of the legislators.
Amaewhule, the Assembly majority leader said the state revised appropriation law No. 7 of 2020 was intended to make provision of services to fall into current reality. “The House (of Assembly) passed this Bill, to revise the Rivers State Appropriation Law No. 12 of 2019 to make provision for services of the State for the year ending 31st of December 2020.”
The approved N530,813,357,619.00 which the House (of Assembly) approved in 2019, as a result of the prevailing economic circumstances of the country, the House now approved a total sum of N171,33,409,454.55 for capital expenditure, the recurrent expenditure, N129,336,662,028.77 billion bringing a total of N300,370,071,183.33 billion,” he said.