By Patrick Obia
The Cross River State House of Assembly has passed the 2021 appropriation bill of Two Hundred and Seventy Seven Billion, Seven Hundred and Eight Million, Seven Hundred and Thirty Eight Thousand, Five Hundred and Fifty Naira (277, 708, 738,550) tagged Blush and Bliss into law.
Sources in Government House Calabar say the budget has been transmitted to Governor Ben Ayade for assent.
It remains unclear whether ministries, departments, agencies and other parastatals of government were invited to defend their proposed spending even as the document has remained secret.
Mr. Ayade had on November 5, 2020 presented NGN277,708,765.550 as the 2021 appropriation bill to the Assembly where he announced an end to his pursuit of his signature projects.
He described it as a people’s budget that focuses on critical issues such as hunger, potholes, agriculture, security as cushioned by the COVID-19 pandemic and the #EndSARS protest.
The capital component stood at NGN85,196,800.00 while recurrent expenditure was pegged at NGN192,511,985,550.