Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State, on Monday, presented the sum of N139,398,280,640.00 billion appropriation bill to the State House of Assembly for the 2023 fiscal year.

The appropriation bill which is tagged “Budget of Divine Mandate Consolidation and Continuity”, is 4.13% less than the 2022 original budget which was N145,410,597,723.49.

Governor Umahi explained that the budget is a transition budget to be implemented by his administration and the next administration, saying, “the current administration would implement 41.67% while the next would implement 58.33%.

He said the budget proposal has a Recurrent Expenditure of N58,367,774,468.00 covering 41.87% of the total budget, while the Capital expenditure is N81,030,506,172.00) covering 58.13% of the total budget estimate.

Umahi said: “Today, I most respectfully present to this Honourable House, the 2023 Budget Estimate tagged the Budget of Divine Mandate Consolidation and Continuity (C to C).

“This budget is a transition budget which means that it will be implemented by this administration and the next. The current administration would implement 41.67% while the next would implement 58.33%.

“The budget estimate is a total of One Hundred and Thirty-Nine Billion, Three Hundred and Ninety-Eight Thousand, Two Hundred and Eighty Thousand Six Hundred and Forty Naira, only (N139,398,280,640.00).

“This consist of a Recurrent Expenditure of Fifty-Eight Billion, Three Hundred Sixty-Seven Million, Seven Hundred Seventy-Four Thousand Four Hundred and Sixty-Eight Naira (N58,367,774,468.00) covering 41.87% of the total budget. Personnel cost is Twenty-Six Billion, Eight Hundred, Ninety-Four Million, Three Hundred, Eighty-Four Thousand Four Hundred and Sixty-Eight Naira (N26,894,384,468.00) covering 19.29% of the total budget and; Overhead cost is Thirty-One Billion, Four Hundred Seventy-Three Million, Three Hundred and Ninety Thousand Naira (N31,473,390,000.00) covering 22.58% of the total budget.

“The Capital expenditure of Eighty-One Billion, Thirty Million, Five Hundred Six Thousand, One Hundred and Seventy-Two Naira (N81,030,506,172.00) covering 58.13% of the total budget estimate.”

The Governor further said the Fiscal policy thrust is predicated on Educational growth, Health Care Development, Infrastructural development (Housing and others), Human Capital Development and Job creation.

Other fiscal policy thrusts of the budget proposal, according to Umahi, are the Security of lives and property, Institutionalisation of best practices, Consolidation and Transition.

The Governor said the expected receipt for the implementation of the 2023 budget proposal stands at ₦139,398,280,640.00.

“This is a 4.13% decrease from the 2022 budgeted receipt of ₦145,410,597,723.49. This decrease is because of some revenue line items that will no longer be expected or will be at least minimal in the year 2023; this includes items such as the IPPIS PAYE refunds to States of the Federation and the SFTAS World Bank Grant Program.

“There are also several new revenue sources expected in the year 2023 outside of the State Government Share of FAAC. Of note is the revenue expected from the Concession of the Ebonyi State International Airport; we have budgeted ₦25,000,000,000.00 for this. With the completion and commissioning of the Ebonyi Shopping Mall, we anticipate significant revenue generation in 2023, we expect to receive no less than ₦1,000,000,000.00 from this source.

“We have also budgeted ₦5,444,625,000.00 for the SEBAR program, which is a new performance for results World Bank program based on the ease of doing business. A Grant that the State Government is very keen on is the Immunization Plus and Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Transforming Services (IMPACT) Project which is a program with the objective to reduce under-five mortality rates in participating States (We have budgeted ₦871,140,000.00 for this).

“To address gaps in the collection of taxes on consumables, a 4% Consumption tax will be introduced in 2023 (We have budgeted ₦200,000,000.00 as our expected receipt),” Umahi explained.

He further added, “Our mission is to mobilise the human resources in the State to harness all its God-given resources to create and use wealth for individual happiness, collective fulfilment, and peaceful cohabitation in an environment of transparent and honest leadership.

“The State’s fiscal policy is envisaged to control and enforce compliance with established spending limits to achieve a sound budgeting system, which includes aggregate fiscal discipline, allocative efficiency, and effective spending.”

Umahi also disclosed his plans to commence the setting up of two universities, namely; the ICT University at Oferekpe Izzi, and the Aeronautical University at Ezza.

“In the proposed budget, we plan to commence the setting up of the two universities. ICT University at Oferekpe, Izzi and the Aeronautical University at Ezza. When fully established, the Aeronautical University will be able to train and certify airport managers, aircraft engineers and so on.

“The ICT University will likewise aid a revolution of information technology in the State and the country at large. We expect that this institution will train students in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Data Science, Software development, and Machine Learning (ML), among other ICT areas.