Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom has assented to the 2024 appropriation estimate of N849.97 billion, emphasizing a commitment to enhancing the government’s revenue generation efforts.
The budget was approved during an extended Executive Council meeting held at the Government House in Uyo on Thursday.
The final budget proposal stands at N849.970 billion, and received approval from the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly on December 21, reflecting a slight increase of N4.3 billion from the initial sum of N845.63 billion.
Governor Eno underscored the importance of prioritizing revenue generation over expenditures in the fiscal year 2024.
- He stated, “In signing this budget today, my priority will be on revenue drive. How do we get to bring in revenue? Because there is no point having a budget this big when the revenue is not commensurate,”
- “If you review what happened last year, we had the budget too and in previous years, but revenue is always the issue.”
- “So, while we sign this budget to show that we have approval, I think what will be most important for all of us is to make sure that we meet the revenue part of it, to help expenditures,”
Need to increase revenue generation
Gov. Eno emphasized that his government is implementing various strategies to boost the state’s internally generated revenue, aiming to effectively address the budgetary needs.
He encouraged the Ministry of Finance, Internal Revenue Service, Ethical and Attitudinal Reorientation Commission (EARCOM), and other relevant agencies to intensify their efforts in mobilizing revenue, ensuring seamless funding for the budgets.
Backstory
- Earlier in November, the Governor of Akwa Ibom state presented the 2024 budget proposal of N845.6 billion budget to the state Assembly for approval. The initial budget proposal for 2024 was 0.5% short of the N850 billion budget for 2023.
- For the state’s 2024 budget, N352.91 billion was allocated for recurrent expenditure while N492.7 billion comprised capital expenditure.