Akpabio presents N462 billion budget to Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly

Gov. Akpabio

Akwa Ibom Government has presented a budgetary allocation of N462 billion for 2015 financial year to the state House Of Assembly for deliberations and approval.
This is against N498.54 billion approved for this fiscal year made up of N74.24 billion for Recurrent Expenditure, N333 billion for Capital Expenditure while  Consolidated Revenue Fund Charges was N91.30 billion.

A breakdown of 2015 budget tagged: Budget of Actualization and Continuity shows that Recurrent Expenditure is given N94.74 billion, Capital Expenditure has N253 billion while Consolidated Revenue Fund Charges is allocated N114.26 billion.

Chief Godswill Akpabio, who presented the budget proposal Tuesday to the state House of Assembly in Uyo, remarked, "The 2015 proposed budget seeks to build on the successes and achievements recorded so far.  We intend to complete on-going projects and use the budget proposals to build a strong bridge between my administration and the incoming administration such that the uncommon transformation, which we have so energetically pursued, will be sustained, so that our past labours will not be in vain.

"The budget would touch all sections of infrastructures and security in the state. It will develop strategic plans for the development of the state, create more jobs for the teeming youths, the use of direct labour and improved human capacity, promote women empowerment and improve the education standard of every Akwa Ibom child, among others", he stated.

Commending the state House of Assembly for supporting his administration, he remarked, "There is nothing I can say here which can be more precious than what you have done here. When the story of the Uncommon Transformation of our state will be properly documented on the petals of our history, it would be noted that this House was the factory we brought our ideas to incubation and production.

According to him, "It was here we gave our ideas wings to fly. It was here that the bird of uncommon transformation soared to heights of acclaim. As you know it takes two wings to fly and the two wings in this case were the Executive wing and the Legislative wing. Akwa Ibom State appreciates your patriotism and effective representation.

"Let me pay special tribute to the Hon. Speaker, Rt. Hon. Sam Ikon and the leadership of this great House for providing vision, purpose, direction and motivation for developmental legislation in this Chamber. We appreciate all members of this great Assembly for lending their hands and souls to the struggle to transform our state".

"The last seven and a half years have been times of dramatic transformation and you have all risen to every challenge of making our social fabric stronger, our people healthier, our society safer and more prosperous, and providing state-of-the-art infrastructures for all Akwa Ibom people and foreign investors who need superb investment destination", Akpabio narrated.

Calling on the people of the state to always imbibe the spirit of love, peace and unity, he remarked, " I have taken every action to give the good people of our state the tools and conditions to build a new Akwa Ibom State founded on love, brotherhood and unity.  I have stayed on the course of values, which define the Akwa Ibom promise, and we have sought to turn this state into a veritable specimen of peace and development".

"Today we stand on Zion Hill. God has taken us across turbulent seas and raging rivers. He has taken us through the wilderness of decayed infrastructures and into the land of our ancestors’ promises. But when the children of Israel entered the Promised Land, their travails did not stop. They had to fight the giants in the land, and up till now they are still fighting for their land. We must keep fighting the demons of ethnicity and tribalism, to prove that we are worthy of the uncommon transformation God has bequeathed to us.

"Each generation will have something to fight against, but for us we have three fights to embark upon today. One, we must bury our differences and fight to sustain the tempo of development encapsulated in the uncommon transformation of our state.  Two, we must ensure that the ills of jealousy, hatred and envy which constituted a clog in the wheels of our development are never allowed to rear their heads again in our land.  Three, we must acknowledge that the Akwa Ibom person has acquired a new status and greater esteem in our country and we must fight to maintain this new status in our country", he noted.

Governor Akpabio who called on every Akwa Ibom person to see himself as a stakeholder in the state projects, stressed that every Akwa Ibom person is a shareholder with equal shares in the Akwa Ibom dream, calling Akwa Ibom persons to see themselves as the owners of the many infrastructures that his administration has built in the last seven and a half years, which hoped that some of them would be completed.

He said his administration would have certainly done more for the state but due to circumstances beyond their control, disclosing that the original estimate was N498.5 billion, but they realized N221.4 billion only – about 44 percent, with a benchmark of 73 per barrel of oil, while the production target was N2.5, which he said was not met as a result of pipeline vandalisation and oil theft.

Akpabio who hinted that his administration had invested in the resources of the state on those infrastructures and projects critical to the emergence of a new Akwa Ibom ready to take up the role of a major player in the nation’s political economy, believed that prosperity is not a matter of luck, neither is it a gift, stressing that the people of the state must take their destinies in their own hands and take decisions, which he said, would keep the society prosperous and to keep flying and soaring in the orbit of glory.

Source: Akwa Ibom Government House press release