It was gathered that the signed budget represents an increase of about N3billion to the N147, 827,854,997 budget proposals presented to the Assembly by the governor on December 21, 2017.
Meanwhile, the signed budget also represents a reduction of over N23billion from the 2017 budget.
A statement signed by the director general on Media and Publicity to the state governor, Kingsley Fanwo said the budget contains personnel cost of N27,237,599,449; overhead cost, N36,741,761,784; and capital expenditure of N87,698,493,261.
This budget indicates that for the second year running that the state will dedicate more than half of its budget to the provision of infrastructure as capital expenditure stands at 57.82 per cent of the total budget.
Speaking at the budget signing ceremony, Governor Bello commended the state legislators for cutting short their break in order to ensure timely consideration and passage of the Appropriation Bill.
He assured that the budget will be fully implemented, stressing that despite being a political year, he would not be distracted in his determination to make life better for all Kogites.
“I shall not play politics with the fortune, destiny and future of the state,” he said.
He emphasised that he would do everything possible to actualise his promises to the people as captured in the budget.
This year’s budget, tagged: “Budget of Sustainable Growth,” was specifically designed to address infrastructural challenges of the state.
Earlier, Speaker of the House, Hon. Matthew Kolawale, explained that the House considered the need to increase the fund for the accreditation of courses at the Kogi State University, Anyigba, from a N100 million to N500million.
He added that the amendment, among several others, were made in good faith and in view of their significance to the vision of the state government.
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