By Peter Okutu

ABAKALIKI— GOVERNOR Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State, yesterday presented an appropriation bill of N80,017,929,870.00 (Eighty Billion, Seventeen Million, Nine Hundred and Twenty- Nine Thousand, Eight Hundred and Seventy Naira) to the state House of Assembly for passage into law.

In a surprise development, the warring factions of the house came together to receive the governor to present the budget led by the Speaker, Chukwuma Nwazunku.

The presentation thus ended speculations in the state that the budget might not be presented to the Assembly this year.

The sitting, however started  three hours behind schedule as members during a closed-door meeting with Deputy Governor, Dave Umahi, and Governor Martin Elechi, discussed their lingering allowances.

Vanguard gathered that the executive arm had been exploiting the crisis in the Assembly to delay the allowances meant for legislators and their constituents.

Tagged “budget of transmission and economic fulfillment”, the budget is 6 percent lower than last year’s budget of N85,634,933,972

According to Elechi, 47.48% of the budget or N39,991,977,780 billion was proposed as recurrent expenditure while N42,025,952,090 billion or percent of the budget was for capital expenditure.

The governor, who commended the Assembly for the cordial relationship it had maintained with the executive even though in the last few months, there had been trials engendered by both internal and external factors.

Elechi noted that the 2014 budget of stabilization faced a lot of obstacles especially global economic meltdown, fluctuations of crude prices which led to a shortfall in the expected revenue of both the federal government and that of the state even as its expenditure profile rose.

“Despite the numerous hiccups experienced over the years, we have a justification to say that we have consolidated on the performances of the past years; that we have reasonably, if not wholly, fulfilled our electoral promises to our people; and that we have created a brighter hope for the future generation”, he said.

Speaker, Chukwuma Nwazunku, commended the governor for his judicious management of the state resources and promised that the house would ensure speedy passage of the budget to enable the governor to continue providing dividends of democracy to the people of the state.

He announced the setting up of a special committee to ensure speedy passage of the budget.