Okowa seeks N71bn supplementary budget approval few days to end of tenure

The Governor of Nigeria’s oil-rich state of Delta, Ifeanyi Okowa, has presented a N71 billion 2023 supplementary budget to the State House of Assembly for approval on Tuesday.

His request was conveyed in a letter he sent to the assembly and read during plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Christopher Ochor, in Asaba.

The governor stated that the budget was made up of N5.6 billion for recurrent expenditure and N65.5 billion for capital expenditure.

“May I wish to note that there has been an actual and projected increase in some fiscal receipts?”

“Consequently, the supplementary budget has become necessary for appropriation to pay for some critical projects and activities of the government as well as fund ongoing projects across the state in the year 2023.

“In the light of the foregoing, it would be greatly appreciated if the draft 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Bill is placed before the House at its earliest convenience for consideration and passing into law,” he said.

In 2022, Okowa signed into law the state’s 2023 Appropriation Bill of N571.64 billion.

Delta also received N141.93 billion from President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration as a refund for the backlog of 13 per cent oil derivation money held back by the federal government since 1999. This is separate from the millions of naira it draws monthly from the federal allotment to the 36 states of the federation.

Between January and June 2022, Delta registered Nigeria’s highest Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations. The state received nearly N123 billion (284 million U.S. dollars) in FAAC revenue in that period.

Credit: The Guardian