Nigeria: Gov. Okorocha Budgets N197 Billion For 2013

Governor of Nigeria’s eastern state of Imo, Owelle Rochas Okorocha has presented in Owerri a budget proposal of N197,743,684,031 to the State House of Assembly for the 2013 fiscal year.

The amount represents 34.4 per cent recurrent expenditure or N63,550,209,564 and 67.53 per cent capital expenditure which represents N132,183,474,467. An estimated revenue projection from recurrent sources for the year and capital receipt stand at N93,889,888,530 and N101,853,795,501 respectively.

In the budget christened ‘Rescue Budget 2′, Gov. Okorocha said an expenditure of N59,171,065,600 representing 47.29 per cent of the total capital receipt will be allocated to the economic sector which comprises agriculture, petroleum and environment, housing, lands, commerce and industry, works, transport, public utilities and rural development.

The governor explained that the 2013 budget is anchored on the 2012-2015 Medium Term Expenditure Framework otherwise known as Imo Rescue Development Plan earlier approved by the state house of assembly as the capital allocations and projects in the budget remain part of the entire package.

He maintained that government would pursue policies and programmes aimed at revamping the agricultural sector after several decades of negligence to ensure that Imo contributes to Nigeria’s food security agenda, adding such step will lead to an increased productivity in the areas of rice, livestock, fish, vegetable and fruits, poultry, cassava and oil pal production.

Governor Okorocha also projected a grant $2.3m equivalent to N378,958,400 that will be attracted within the year under the United Nations Development Assistant Framework (UNDAF 11) Plan while 1000 of housing units of various categories will be constructed to address the housing needs of Imo citizens.

He said that government will partner effectively with a foreign company to build a per-cast concrete factory while vocational centers will be established in Orlu and Okigwe for artisans.

In the transport and aviation sector, Gov. Okorocha said his administration would continue to explore the possibility of setting up an airline in partnership with private sector with new commuter buses and cars purchased to complement the services of Imo Transport Company (ITC) and Imo Municipal Transport Services (IMTS).

He added that all the ongoing road projects will be completed in 2013, purchase new road construction equipment to reinforce the technical capacity of the work ministry, procure four new fire fighting engines for the three zones of the state and government house, install micro water schemes for regular water supply, establish Fire Training School and new fire station in Owerri.

In the education sector, Gov. Okorocha said beyond implementing the free and qualitative education programme at primary, secondary and tertiary level, government would provide technical equipment for full accreditation of the four technical colleges in the state and complete ongoing construction and renovation projects in primary and secondary schools.

Other major highlights of the Rescue Budget 2 include the completion and equipping the ultra-modern diagnostic dialysis center and the 27 new general hospitals under construction, sustain and consolidate the gains of the health-at-your-doorstep programme to reduce common health conditions, continue the effort towards developing pharmaceutical warehouse, construct a new house of assembly complex that will be equipped with e-library, Internet facilities and general networking system and complete the Orlu and Okigwe ultra-modern stadia.

.....PM NEWS