Rose Ejembi, Makurdi

Benue Governor, Samuel Ortom, has announced the extension of the partial lockdown of the state for another two weeks to prevent spread of coronavirus.

He also announced the downward review of the 2020 budget from N195 billion to N119 billion in line with recent happenings across the globe.

Ortom disclosed this while briefing newsmen during the end of a joint State Executive Council/Action Committee on COVID-19 meeting at the New Banquet Hall of Government House in Makurdi, yesterday.

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He explained further that the downward review of the budget became necessary after considering the input of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the 2020 recession would be worse than that of 2015.

“IMF put the global recession of 2015 at 1.5 percent and that of 2020 is put at 3.4 percent. That means the 2020 recession will double that of 2015,” the governor said.

He said it was in that regard that the state government has decided to tap into agriculture where the state has comparative advantage by going into massive production of food through farming.