Chairman of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly Committee on Appropriation and Finance, Rt. Hon. Uduak Odudoh, has tasked the Ministry of Finance to be realistic in its 2020 budget performance in line with the economic threat posed by COVID-19.
Rt. Hon. Odudoh made this known in Uyo on Wednesday during his Committee’s commencement of budget appraisal of Ministries, Department and Agencies for the 1st and 2nd quarters of 2020 fiscal year.
While appealing to the State Commissioner of Finance, Mr Linus Nkan, to ensure prompt payment to contractors, Rt. Hon. Odudoh said the State House of Assembly will continue to cooperate with the Executive to pass people-oriented Bills that will stimulate development and revenue for the state.
In his remarks, the Finance Commissioner, who said the Ministry has taken citizen involvement in the preparation of Budget beyond what it used to be to the level of Local Government Areas and Civil Liberty Organizations (CLO), said the Udom Emmanuel’s administration remained committed to the progress of the state in budget performance.
Reviewing the State Revenue, Mr. Nkan said “Out of N74,251,400,000.00 Revenue earmarked for the Ministry of Finance in 2020, N708,500,546,78 had been generated as at June, 2020. Of the amount, N108, 500,546.78 is from Investment Income, while N600,000,000.00 is from Internal Loan.”
On the 2020 Capital Expenditure between the months of January and June, he said “the 2020 Aproved Revised Provision for the Ministry was N6,236,880,000.00 for 11 number of activities. Of this amount, N5,000,000,000 alone was for Inter-Ministerial Direct Labour Projects.”
Speaking further, he said “as at June 2020, a total of N764,900,000.00 representing 12,3% of the Revised Provision was accessed and utilized for eight number of activities. Of the released amount, N720million alone was accessed for Inter-Ministerial Direct Labour Projects leaving only N44.9million for core Ministry of Finance programmes.”
Also present at the appraisal meeting were Deputy Chairman of the Committee, Rt. Hon. Effiong Bassey (Oron/Udung Uko); the Deputy Speaker, Princess Felicia Bassey (Okobo); the Chief Whip, Rt. Hon. Emmanuel Ekpenyong (INI), Deputy Leader, Barrister Aniefiok Dennis (Etinan), Obong Godwin Ekpo (Ibiono Ibom) and Hon. Udeme Otong (Abak).
