… Vows Completion, Commissioning of Projects
The Cross River State governor, Prof Ben Ayade, has presented budget estimates of N276 billion, christened ‘budget of conjugated agglutination’ to the Cross River State House of Assembly for the 2022 fiscal year.
The Governor said the 2022 budget would focus on the completion of ongoing projects like the Obudu Cargo and passengers International Airport, Obudu British/Canadian International School, the Odukpani Junction flyover among many others within the next twelve months while those already completed would be commissioned soon.
Making the presentation to the House, Governor Ayade said the budget was so named because “it is a cascade of so many projects, back to back to ensure their completion, putting all together to form a new envelope that when it explodes, you will see a new prosperity agenda.”
He explained that while N170 billion is for Capital Expenditures, N106billion would go for the Recurrent Expenditures in 2022. The Budget is different from the 2021 budget of ‘Blush and Bliss’ by just one billion Naira.
Also constituting the focus of the 2022 budget, Governor Ayade said, is to ensure the sustenance of his administration’s policy of regular payment of salaries, and that there provision in the budget to set aside between N30 to N50 million monthly for the payment of gratuity for retired civil servants in the state.
Additionally, he emphasized, the Appropriation Bill would mirror projects aimed at generating immediate income for the state and impact directly on the people.
He lamented that the vision of his administration was being misunderstood but restated his determination to decouple the State from the civil service mentality with job generation through established industries.
“The 2022 budget tries to marry reality, certainty, aspiration and hope,” he submitted, and appealed to the State House of Assembly to expedite action on the appropriation bill.
