The Abia State House of Assembly has given its approval to the budget proposal for the year 2024.
This decision was reached following a thorough presentation by the House Joint Committee on Appropriation, Budget, and Planning.
As Prime 9ja Online previously reported, Governor Alex Otti had presented a draft budget on December 12th, with a total value of N567,240,095,972.
In the "Budget of New Beginning," Otti proposed allocating 84 per cent of the total budget estimate to capital projects, while the remaining 16 per cent would be directed towards recurrent expenditure.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Emmanuel Emeruwa, revealed that the House Joint Committee on Appropriation made subtle adjustments, increasing the recurrent expenditure to N91,498,547,579 from the initial estimate of N91,228,778,079.
He further explained, "At the same time, the capital expenditure was slightly reduced to N475,741,548,393. from N476,011,317,893, ensuring fair allocation for specific projects and mitigating the impact on certain MDAs.
"The committee's report was duly adopted as the working document of the house, initiating the consideration of the report and the bill in the Committee of the Whole.
"Subsequently, the bill successfully underwent its third reading and was officially enacted into law. In declaring the passage of the bill, I specified that the new legislation shall be cited as the '2024 Appropriation Law of Abia State of Nigeria' and shall take effect from the 1st day of January 2024."
Emeruwa expressed his deep gratitude to his colleagues for their dedicated efforts and contributions, which ensured a meticulous examination of every aspect of the bill.
In the meantime, the Abia State House of Assembly has adjourned plenary for Christmas and New Year celebrations and announced Thursday, January 18, 2024, to resume its legislative activities.