By Sylvia Akpan, Government House Correspondent
Cross River State Governor, Sen. Bassey Otu, Thursday, signed the revised 2023 appropriation bill into law in the realization of his people’s first agenda.
The appropriation bill has a total sum of N250,781,015,661 a downward review from the previous budget size of N330 billion.
Edem Darlington, Deputy Chief Press Secretary to the Governor in a statement said at the signing event, Sen. Otu noted the need to review the 2023 budget became expedient because his government decided to work within a realistic financial framework of the State.
“Let me start by thanking the speaker and the house for the speed in passing this bill. One of the most difficult bills to pass in the legislature is the appropriation bill.
“It is the first bill I am signing into law in conformity with the People’s First agenda, collaborating with the House of Assembly we shall achieve the desired results.
“With the signing into law of this revised appropriation bill, Cross Riverians will start seeing the real dividends of democracy which will improve the fortunes of the state,” the governor said.
According to the Governor, the essence of the downward review of the budget is to capture the true income indices and make the bill more realistic in line with the current reality in Internally Generated Revenue as well as the monthly allocation from the federation to the state.
Earlier, the speaker, Rt. Hon. Ayambem expressed gratitude to his colleagues for working assiduously to see that work on the budget was completed in record time.
According to the speaker, the budget was reviewed downward to enable the government to work with the state’s income revenue.
“It is the most realistic budget in time. The bill was reviewed in light of the state’s financial income, Cross Riverians will be happy with the size of this budget.
“The legislative bottlenecks were observed and all due processes strictly followed, and I assure you that the executive now has a good ground to take off”.
Assuring the governor of a harmonious working synergy between the legislature and the executive, the speaker said, “I want to assure you of the cooperation and collaboration of the House of Assembly in providing good governance to our dear State”.
Recall that the 2023 appropriation bill which the immediate past administration signed had a total sum of Three Hundred and Thirty billion naira.
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