Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has presented a N320.46 billion appropriation bill for 2023 to the state House of Assembly, which he called ‘Budget of Reliance and Transformation’.
The amount is a 69 per cent increase on the 2022 bill.
Presenting the proposal to the Assembly, yesterday, Obaseki said capital expenditure would take N192 billion, while Recurrent expenditure would be N127.5 billion.
Guests present at the budget presentation include Edo State Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu; Secretary to the State Government, Osarodion Ogie; Chief of Staff to the Governor, Osaigbovo Iyoha, Edo State Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa, Commissioners and other top government officials.
The governor said: “Our strategic goal is to utilize manufacturing, technology, agriculture, arts, culture and entertainment as the catalyst to promote sustained investment across all sectors of the Edo economy.”
Obaseki noted that the total projected revenue for 2023 was N300 billion, consisting of N144.26 billion statutory allocation, made up of Value Added Tax, VAT, of N41.2 billion; Capital receipts of 46.1bn; IGR, N60.4 billion and N4 billion from grants, among others, adding that “The balance will be sourced from development financing and financial institutions.”
Obaseki added: “The revenue estimates for the budget is based on a $70 per barrel benchmark for crude oil and average daily production of 1.69m barrels per day as well as an increase in Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, to N60.4bn, owing to reforms in tax collection and land management activities.”
Receiving the 2023 budget proposal, Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Marcus Onobun, hailed the governor for his efforts at ensuring economic prosperity for the state, adding, “It is worthy to note that at the presentation of the year 2022 budget, you made certain commitments to the people of Edo in relation to infrastructural transformation, healthcare, education and economic development of the state.”
