Edo Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has presented a N153.4 billion budget proposal to the Edo State House of Assembly, for the 2021 fiscal year, representing a 9.7 percent increase from the revised 2020 budget.
Obaseki, who presented the budget to the Assembly sitting at the old Legislative Chambers in Government House, Benin City, said the budget comprises N94.8 billion for recurrent and N58.6 billion for capital expenditure.
The governor said the document christened ‘Making Edo Great Again (MEGA) Budget,’ is exclusively pinned on robustly responding to the dislocations caused by the coronavirus pandemic, whilst building a workforce of the future.
He noted that the N94.8 billion recurrent expenditure estimate for 2021 fiscal year represents a 24 percent growth from the N76.6 billion actual expected in the 2020 fiscal year.
Obaseki said the impact areas for 2021 fiscal year include education, which will gulp N20.8 billion; human capital and civil service reforms, N6.1 billion; pension and gratuities, N12.8 billion; contribution to the State Health Insurance Scheme, N1 billion; health sector, N10.3 billion and physical, urban and regional planning, which will gulp N9 billion.
Other critical sectors, according to the governor, include roads and transport infrastructure, which will receive N14.8 billion; economic growth and employment enablers, N7.6 billion, while administration gets N8.7 billion.
Similarly, Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun has presented the 2021 budget estimate of N109,855,051,640 before the state House of Assembly for consideration and approval.
While presenting the budget christened “Budget of Providence”, Oyetola said the 2021 budget would be the 30th annual budget of the state since it was carved out of the old Oyo State on Aug. 27, 1991.
He said budget presentation was in consonance with the constitutional provision as enshrined in Section 121(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
Oyetola explained that capital expenditure in the year 2021 budget would be N59.2 billion while recurrent expenditure would be N50.6 billion.
He explained further that N10.7 billion of the total expenditure would be spent on education while N10.6 billion would be spent on health.
Oyetola said that the budget would be funded by federal allocations (45.75 per cent of the budget), internally generated revenue (24.26 per cent ), aids and grants (22.88 per cent) and other capital receipts (7.11 per cent).