Ortom Presents 2021 Budget Estimate of N132.5b to Assembly

Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, Thursday, presented a budget proposal of N132.5b to the state House of Assembly for the 2021 fiscal year.

Presenting the budget estimate to the lawmakers, Ortom said of the amount, N20b would be spent on health and food security due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The budget tagged: “Budget of Resilience,” considered the need to strengthen the resilience of Benue people and the state in its efforts to recover from the global, national and sub-national economic crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The governor explained that the economic sector has the highest share of N51.3b followed by the social sector with N44.5b, administrative sector got N33.8b, while law and justice sector has the lowest share of N2.8b.

“Recurrent expenditure stood at N90.8b, while N49.3b was earmarked for personnel cost, overhead cost got N41.4b while capital expenditure received N41.7b,” he added.

Speaker of the House, Titus Uba, while receiving the budget estimate, assured that the House would ensure speedy passage of the appropriation bill and appealed for cooperation of the members and the various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to achieve target.

He, however, commended Governor Ortom for the early presentation of the 2021 budget estimate, noting that the move would allow ample time for preparations to mitigate any economic disruption.