Assembly has passed into law the year 2008 supplementary budget with a slight amendment in the initial figure submitted to the parliament by the State Governor, Professor Oserheimen Osunbor.
The supplementary budget which went through serious scrutiny before it was passed by the House now stood at N15,901,245, 000 billion as against the sum of N16,349,245,000 billion earlier sent to the parliament by the governor. This figure represents a decrease of N448,000,000 million.
Considering the supplementary budget at the committee of supply, the chairman of the House Standing Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Chris Umogbai (Etsako Central) frowned at the flagrant disregard to financial regulations by some ministries and parastatals in the state who overshot their budgetary spending without recourse to seeking approval from the state House of Assembly.
Hon. Umogbai further informed the House that the funding for the supplementary budget is to be sourced internally by the state government.
Giving reasons for the supplementary budget, the committee chairman said that the supplementary Appropriation Bill became expedient in view of some urgent and very crucial expenditure by government which was not captured in the 2008 Appropriation Bill.
In addition, he said some Heads of expenditure had been overshot as a result of acute exigencies stressing that this has brought to the fore the need for a supplementary budget in order to appropriate for these expenditure and other anticipated financial demands before the 31st December, 2008.
The other reason given was that in fulfillment of the present administration’s promise to actualize a pay rise of 15 percent to workers with affect from July 2008, personnel emoluments increased and hence required augmentation in the 2008 supplementary as the pay rise was not provided for in the year 2008 budget.
Also the need to provide the sum of N1.5 billion for the Conditional Grand Scheme (CGS) for the millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the supplementary Budget cropped up at the second quarter of the year 2008 financial year he said.
Similarly, the directive by the Federal Government to state Governments to source funds from Excess crude saving in the Federation Account in order to provide for the Emergency power sector special intention fund was not equally envisaged at the beginning of the year when the 2008 Budget was passed into law.
Having eloquently presented the supplementary budget, members who spoke took time to examine the work abilities of some of the figures written against certain ministries and extra ministerial departments.
Contributing, Hon. Philip shaibu (Etsako West 11) questioned the rationale behind the additional N10 million proposed for the Edo State Liaison Office Abuja having collected N25 million in the year 2008 budget and are currently indebted to the tune of N5 million which has already been taken as loan.
Hon. Shaibu further stated that if any of the liaison Offices is qualified for any additional money, it should be Lagos Liaison Office who does most of the jobs and had only expended N2 million from January to June this year and a paltry N800,000.00 was approved for them in this supplementary.
While advocating for reduction of the N10 million proposed for Abuja Liaison Office to be reduce to N7 million, Hon. Shaibu suggested that the N3 million deducted from the said amount to Abuja Liaison Office should be added to Michael Imoudu’s Institute of Physical and Health Education who was given just N1 million to bring what to be spend by the institute in the remaining part of this year to N4 million.
Other area that generated a lot of arguments during the consideration of the budget was the N100 million proposed for the purchase of chrismas rice by the state government calling for an even distribution of the said Xmas rice to the people that actually needed it, the member representing Oredo Constituency, Hon. Patrick Osayimwen said experience in the past had shown that when items like this are purchased by government for suspected purpose of alleviating the sufferings of the poor masses in the state. Such items sometimes end up in the door post of those who can afford them thereby leaving those on whose sake it was purchased to lavish in poverty.
Hon. Osayimwen therefore appealed to the House to impress on the state government to ensure the rice gets to the people it was intended and not the politicians who would hijack them to do offerings for their immediate relations and girl friends.
Having taken time to thoroughly examine the supplementary budget, the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Zakawanu Garuba in reporting progress reached at the committee of supply reiterated the need for the N100 million chrismas rice to get to the people it was intended even as he urged government to ensure that whatever loan it had assisted both the state government -owned Bendel Brewery and Edo Transport Company Limited to secure from banks should be recovered at the appropriate time.
Having gaven that warning, Speaker Zakawanu Garuba thereafter announced a supplementary budget of N15, 901, 245, 000 billion to be spent by government in the remaining part of this year.
Break down of the amount are Recurrent Expenditure N5,367,103,000 billion while capital Expenditure stood at N10,534,142,000 billion.
The Speaker then directed the clerk of the House to do a clean copy of the Bill as passed into law to the state Governor, Professor Oserheimen Osunbor for his assent.
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