The Enugu State governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, has signed the 2017 budget estimated at 105.72 billion Naira, themed “Budget of Economic Recovery and Inclusive Development” into law.

Governor Ugwuanyi commended the Enugu State House of Assembly members for a speedy passage of the budget and promised to fully implement it for the development of the state.

“I wish to express appreciation to the good people of the state for the opportunity to serve and reassure that our promise to deliver good governance and selfless service remain non-negotiable.

“I wish to assure you of our commitments to fully implement this budget so that we can achieve the objectives we have set out for rapid growth of the state.

However, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Edward Ubosi, said that there was no alteration to the budget as it was the size presented by the governor on December 23, 2016.

Mr Ubosi, however, said that the lawmakers juggled some of the entries where they found necessary to make the document more responsive to the yearnings of the state. He said that some ministries and government had unnecessary allocations to themselves but such were moved to other more pressing areas.

“In the course of looking at the budget we made some adjustments in areas we deemed necessary,” for instance the Ministry of Works was allocated two Hilux vans, one of such vans was for five million Naira, the other was for 10 million Naira.

He said that the office of the Secretary to the State Government had allocated some money to rent a house “but we found it unnecessary and put the fund to another ministry.

Mr Ubosi appealed to the governor to ensure the full implementation of the budget, adding: “The budget is a social contract between you and the people.” (Channels TV)

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