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By Madu Obi
The Anambra State House of Assembly has passed the state’s 2024 Appropriation Bill of N410 billion.
The approval came one month after Governor Chukwuma Soludo presented the bill to the House.
The approval of the budget followed the adoption of the report of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation during plenary.
Presenting the report, the chairman of the committee, Mr Ejike Okechukwu said the budget size be retained as presented by the Governor.
According to him, the capital expenditure of N313,930,288,526 (77 per cent) and the recurrent expenditure of N96,201,936,746, (23 per cent) remain as presented.
He said: "We organized and invited the heads of ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), for bilateral discussions and thorough scrutiny of the budget.
"After the review, we had few changes and adjustments based on the needs of the different MDAs, but they still fit into the budget heads.
"That the sum N410,132,225,272, be approved for the services of the government of Anambra State for the year ending Dec. 31, 2024 and for related purposes.
"We also recommend that funds should be released to MDAs for optimum budget performance."
The Speaker of the House, Dr Somtochukwu Udeze, commended the committee for the thorough scrutiny of the budget. He subsequently conducted a voice vote for the adoption of the report and it was carried.
The speaker has also directed the Acting Clerk, Mr Okechukwu Nwobi, to send a copy of the bill to Gov. Soludo for his assent.
The state’s 2024 budget tagged 'Changing Gears: The Transformation Agenda Begins', is N150 billion higher than that of 2023 (N260 billion), a 57.8 per cent increase.
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