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Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
In an unprecedented move in the annals of lawmaking, Bayelsa State House of Assembly has passed the 2020 Appropriation Bill into law less than 48 hours after Governor Douye Diri presented it to the legislative arm.
Diri on Tuesday while presenting the budget to the House of Assembly had earmarked N51.646 billion for Personnel cost, N52.327 billion for Overhead, N91.478 billion for Consolidated Revenue fund charges while N46.736 billion goes for capital spending.
The Speaker, Rt Hon Abraham Ingobere said the budget christened ‘Budget of Consolidation for Prosperity’ was given expedited passage given the exigencies of the moment especially the fact that the fiscal year is almost half- way gone.
During a debate on the budget, lawmakers were unanimous in their comments that the budget fully considered all the key areas especially what they described as the commendable emphasis on the diversification of the state economy towards agriculture and small and medium scale enterprises.
The lawmakers commended Diri for making provision for the completion of the three senatorial roads and other key projects across the state.
Inogbere speaking after the passage commended lawmakers for their commitment to the service of the state and expressed optimism that the full implementation of the budget would meet the hopes and aspiration of the people.
A breakdown of the budget showed that the loin share went to the Works and Transport sector with a total of N8.6billion and was closely followed by the Agricultural Sector which got N8billion.
Education sector got N2.1 billion, Health, N1.75 billion, Power and Water sector had N800million, Housing and Urban Development had N640million, Sports had N580 million, while Trade, Industry and Investment got N430.938 million.
