The Anambra State House of Assembly has passed the state’s 2022 revised appropriation bill of N169.6 billion.
The Friday approval came more than 55 days after Gov. Chukwuma Soludo presented the bill to the House.
The passage followed the adoption of the report of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation during plenary in Awka.
Presenting the report, the chairman of the committee, Obinna Emeneka, who represents Anambra East Constituency that the revised budget was made up of N108 billion capital expenditure and N61.3 billion recurrent expenditure.
“After thorough scrutiny and review, we recommend that the size of the 2022 revised budget be retained except for little adjustments in some Ministries, Departments and Agencies’ (MDAs) allocation.
“That the sum of N169,621,744,131 be approved for the service of the Anambra State Government for the year ending Dec. 31, 2022, and for related purposes.
“The committee also recommends that subsequently, projects and contractors be specified and funds should be released to MDAs to ensure effective budget performance,” Hon. Emeneka said.
The Speaker of the House, Uche Okafor, commended the committee for thorough scrutiny of the budget and conducted a voice vote for the adoption of the report.
The House passed the bill after the voice vote and the speaker directed the acting Clerk of the House, Esther Anaetoh, to send a copy of the bill to Gov. Soludo for his assent.
The 2022 revised budget is N27.7 billion higher than the N141.9 billion budget initially approved for former Gov. Willie Obiano.
The Speaker of the House also read a letter from Gov. Soludo, dated July 5, seeking approval to secure a N100billion Global Limit Multiple Term Loan Facility for the construction and refurbishment of key infrastructure in the state.
The letter was referred to the Committee on Public Accounts for consideration and they would report to the House on Thursday, July 21.
The Speaker also announced that there would be a valedictory session in honour of the late Okechukwu Okoye, who represented Aguata Constituency ll, on Tuesday, July 19.
He was abducted on May 15 and his death was confirmed on May 21.
