The Governor of Enugu State, Dr Peter Mbah has presented a N521.5 billion budget proposal for the 2024 fiscal year before the Enugu State House of Assembly.
The budget which he titled โBudget of Disruptive Economic Growthโ is the highest in the stateโs history, comprising N414.3 billion capital expenditure and N107.2 billion recurrent expenditure.
Presenting the budget on Tuesday, Governor Mbah stated: โThe 2024-2026 multi-year budget is named Budget of Disruptive Economic Growth. This is because it is structured to drive growth in a markedly different pattern than we have attempted to do in the time past.
According to him, โWe are proposing a total budget of the size of โฆ521,561,386,000.00 for the 2024 fiscal year as against the approved revised provision of โฆ224,697,899,063.00 for 2023. This represents a 132 per cent increase from the 2023 revised budget.
โIn the area of our revenue, we estimated that total recurrent revenues during 2024 will amount to โฆ383,789,000,000.00 as against the approved revised provision for 2023 of โฆ143,571,592,917.โ
Giving a breakdown of the governmentโs expected sources of revenue, the governor said: โWhereas the state had an opening balance of N11 billion, it expects to rake in N252.7 billion from internally generated revenue (IGR), N60 billion from statutory revenue, N16 billion from excess crude oil revenues and others, while N44 billion would come from Value Added Tax (VAT).
On the Recurrent Expenditure and Capital Expenditure, Mbah explained: โFor the 2024 Fiscal Year, Recurrent Expenditure which is proposed at โฆ107,227,266,000.00 is made up of N47,583,677,000 Personnel Costs, N41,804,698.000 Overhead Costs, and N17,838.891,000 Consolidated Revenue Charges.
โWith the total recurrent Expenditure at โฆ107,227,266,000.00, this translates to a Net Recurrent Revenue of โฆ276,561,734,000.00, which is thus transferred to the Capital Development Fund.
โThe total Capital Expenditure for the year 2024 is projected at โฆ414,334,120,000.00 as against โฆ135,715,099,693.00 for the 2023 Revised Budget. The current capital expenditure estimate will be funded from the sum of โฆ276,561,734,000.00 to be transferred from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, and the capital receipts of โฆ137,772,386,000.00 to be realized as follows: External and Internal Aids and Grants, N27.922,386,000; Public Private Partnership, N6,100,000,000; Domestic Loans/Borrowings, N71,000,000,000; and International Loans/Borrowing Receipts, N32,750.000.000.โ
On a sectoral basis, the economic sector got the highest in the Capital Expenditure Distribution, which is N207.8 billion, followed by the social sector, which got N182.9 billion.
However, education got 73.6 per cent of the social sector allocation, and 33 per cent of the total budget, representing the highest in both instances.
โAs I mentioned earlier, Education is a key plank in our strategy to eradicate poverty in our State. Consequently, โฆ134,587,982,647.78 representing 73.6percent of the social sector has been earmarked to help reinvent education in our state by developing the new smart schools, which I mentioned earlier, as well as repositioning our senior secondary and tertiary institutions by training and retraining teachers and updating our curricula across all levels of education to infuse technology and technology appreciation and skills.
โThis capital expenditure on education combined with the planned recurrent expenditure in the sector will bring our total spending on education to 33 per cent of the total budget,โ the governor said.
Other top allocations include infrastructural development and maintenance, particularly roads and public buildings, with N82.5 billion to, according to the governor, โsmoothen connectivity, bolster trade, and enhance overall accessibility and attract investments that create jobsโ; agriculture, which got N25.1 billion in pursuit for the self-sufficiency and economic diversification agenda; water, which got N28.9 billion to ensure safe and quality water supply in the state and boost reticulation across the Enugu metropolis; and health, which got N21.7 billion, as the administration ramps up construction of 260 Type-2 Primary Healthcare Centres across the 260 electoral wards. Other priority areas include job creation and security.
Mbah, while appreciating Members of the House of Assembly for their support across party lines, urged all stakeholders to join hands โin this journey towards a better future for all residents.โ
In his comment, the Speaker, Hon Uchenna Ugwu, commended the governor for the remarkable impacts he had made in six months, including the restoration of water to Enugu, and pledged thorough and expedited work on the 2024 budget estimates.
