Ishaku presents N146.73b appropriation bill for 2019

Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku, on Monday presented to the State House of Assembly an appropriation bill of N146.73 billion for the 2019 fiscal year.

Ishaku told the lawmakers that the budget estimate, tagged “Budget of Consolidation,” was to consolidate on his achievements in the past years.

The budget has a capital expenditure of N72.8billion, representing 49.86 per cent and a recurrent expenditure of N73.24billion, representing 50.14 per cent.

Of the total budget sum of 146, 737,268,82.50 Billion Naira, the ministry of Works and Housing has the lion share of 18.2 Billion Naira, representing 12.52%, while that of Environment has the least with N944million.

Education has a total allocation of N8.11bn, representing 5.48%, Health N7.5bn, representing 5.17% , and Agriculture has an allocation of N6.5bn which represents 4.5% of the sum.

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Next year’s budget estimate of N146.73bn is 12.73 per cent higher than the 2018 budget of N129billion, including a N25 billion supplementary budget later passed by the Assembly.

The governor lamented that the “2018 has been a turbulent year and a period of pain for the state, occasioned by incessant attacks by armed militia that left many of our people homeless and several others dead”.

He commended the House of Assembly members for their support and the cordial working relationship they nurtured with the executive arm in the state.

He pledged “accountability and sustainability” in the implementation of the budget for the good of the state.

The Taraba State House of Assembly Speaker, Peter Abel Diah, commended the governor for the “achievements so far recorded in areas of agriculture, health, power, water supply, education and infrastructure.”

“He (Ishaku) has brought governance closer to the people by appointing second class and third class chiefs. This has helped in addressing the security challenges facing the state.

The Speaker also spoke on the forthcoming general election, calling on politicians to play the game according to the rules, by eschewing violence, mindful of their utterances during the campaigns so as to have peaceful elections.