By Festus Ahon
THURSDAY, November 14, 2024, will long be remembered in the history of the Delta State House of Assembly as the State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, presented the state’s Appropriation Bill of N936,078,818,719 billion for the 2025 fiscal year to the lawmakers for consideration and subsequent approval.
Christened “Budget of Fiscal Consolidation”, Governor Oborevwori said the proposed budget comprised recurrent expenditure of N348,717,758,635 billion (representing 37.25 percent) and capital expenditure of N587,361,060,084 (representing 62.75 percent of the total budget).
He remarked that the 2025 budget estimate is N211 billion more than the 2024 approved sum of N725bn, indicating an increase of 29%, adding that Road Infrastructure, Education, Health, Water Resources, and Agriculture would take the lion’s share of the budget.
The governor attributed the increase in the budget size to the realignment of the exchange rate which resulted in higher Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations and associated revenues. This is in addition to a corresponding improvement in the state’s internally-generated revenues in the year.
The 2025 budget contains several initiatives planned to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal on our people and all the attendant economic challenges it has brought upon us.
These include deliberate provisions to strengthen our social protection, interventions and safety nets, basic rural infrastructure, agriculture, and food security, agro-value chain and MSMEs.
“The 2025 Budget focuses on continued provision of physical infrastructure, human capital development, job creation, wealth creation, and poverty reduction in our dear state.
“The state government intends to achieve these through prudent management of our resources and prioritizing expenditure on health, education, agriculture, water resources, environment, housing as well as women and youth empowerment programs.
“In 2025, we propose to spend N230 billion on Road Infrastructure; N67.42 billion on Education; Health will gulp N30.55 billion; Water Resources N11.03 billion; and Agriculture N7 billion,” he said.
Presenting the proposed budget, Governor Oborevwori said the objectives of the 2025 fiscal year remained the same as in the outgoing year, completing ongoing projects and adding new ones in all the critical areas of need: Expand the state’s revenue base by sustaining the ongoing reforms and upward trajectory of Internally Generated Revenues (IGR); Enhance transparency and accountability in public expenditure management; implement effective cost control measures and efficient cash management practices to ensure optimal liquidity position; Expand the capacity of health institutions to cater to the health needs of more Deltans.; Strengthen Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to create employment and grow GDP through the provision of capital grants.
Other objectives include provision of conducive environment for investors and development partners to operate in the state by repositioning the Delta State Investment and Development Agency (DIDA); Continuation of empowerment of the vulnerable and less-privileged through social investment programmes; Continuation of monitoring and evaluation of government projects and programmes to ensure value for every naira spent; Domestication of electricity sector reforms as contained in the Federal Government Electricity Act of 2023; and enhancing food production and food security through the establishment of Special Agri-Processing Zone (SAPZ).
He said a total of N348,717,758,635, is being proposed to meet the government’s financial obligations on salaries, wages and the day-to-day running of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the government in the 2025 fiscal year.
Under the recurrent expenditure, Personnel cost was allocated N170,000,000,000 and Overhead cost N117,280,056,705, while under Consolidated Revenue Charges, Social Contribution will gulp N9,806,041,013; Social Benefit N5,940,157,448; Loan Repayment N35,691,503,469 and Grants and Contribution N10,000,000,000.
Under Capital Expenditure, the sum of N587,361,060,084.00 is proposed to be utilized in funding infrastructural development, acquisition of asset and investments in human capital.
The summary of sectoral allocations of the capital expenditure is as follows: Administrative Sector N27,029,332.359; Economic Sector N327,267,059,771; Law and Justice Sector N6,420,000,000; Regional Sector N74,000,000,000; Social Sector N111,760,000,000 and Contingency N40,884,667,954.
In an interview with journalists after the presentation, Governor Oborevwori said his administration would continue to intervene on federal roads where there are no contractual encumbrances as all roads in the state are used by residents and travellers alike.
He said: “The roads that we are constructing today in the Warri area by Julius Berger are not state roads but federal roads, but I will tell you that whether it is a state or federal road, Deltans are the users; so, all roads here are our roads, hence any one we have resources to committed to, we will do it.”
Governor Oborevwori also said he would not borrow any money but would continue to consolidate on his achievements in the coming this year. The Governor had earlier informed the lawmakers that due to his administration’s resourcefulness in managing the state’s finances, “we have substantially reduced our debt stock from N465.3 billion at the inception of this administration to N303.4 billion as at 30th June 2024; a reduction of N160.9 billion, representing approximately 34.6% of our debt stock.
This feat was largely possible because of fiscal discipline and the enthronement of more efficient cost control measures. We have cost control measures across board, resulting in substantial cash savings, which we are judiciously deploying to fund the various infrastructural projects across the state.”
Governor Oborevwori stressed that his administration remains prudent and works within its earnings, adding; “I made a promise that we will not borrow this year and, by the special grace of God, when I will be celebrating my second year in office, I am very sure that we will still not borrow, and, as you can see we are putting more money in infrastructure.”
