Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha on Monday presented a budget proposal of N195,743,684,031 to the State House of Assembly for the 2013 fiscal year with N63,550,209,564 representing 34.4 per cent as recurrent expenditure and N132,183,474,467 representing 67.53 per cent as capital expenditure.
Dubbed ‘Rescue Budget Two,’ the budget has a revenue projection from recurrent sources for the year at N93,889,888,530 while capital receipt is N101,853,795,501.
The economic sector will receive a total of 47.29 per cent, representing N59,171,065,600 of the total capital receipts. This sector, Okorocha bifurcated into agriculture, petroleum, environment, housing, lands, commerce and industry, works, transport, public utilities, and rural development sub-sectors.
He pledged the relentlessness of his administration in implementing policies and programmes aimed at revamping agriculture, a long-neglected sub-sector.
“This time around, Imo residents must contribute to the country’s agenda on food security and increased productivity in rice, livestock, fish, vegetable and fruits, poultry, cassava and oil palm production,” he said.
Okorocha, who projected a grant of N378,958,400 for the state under the United Nation Development Assistant Framework (UNDAF 11) Plan, revealed that his government would address housing challenges by constructing 1,000 housing units of various categories.
The 2013 budget, he explained, is anchored on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, which is between 2012 and 2015, and also on the Imo Rescue Development Plan, which had earlier been approved by the state Assembly. He also disclosed his government’s plan for establishing vocational centres in Orlu and Okigwe and for building a per-cast concrete factory in conjunction with a foreign company.
He emphasised his administration’s commitment to executing its policy on free and qualitative education for primary, secondary and tertiary school students in addition to providing technical equipment for full accreditation of the four technical colleges and finishing ongoing construction and renovation projects in primary and secondary schools.
He revealed his administration’s consideration for setting up an airline in partnership with the private sector in addition to the purchase of new commuter buses and cars for the Imo Transport Company (ITC) and the Imo Municipal Transport Services (IMTS) to ease road transportation burdens.
The governor also promised to establish a fire training school, put up a new fire station in Owerri, procure four new fire-fighting engines to the three zones of the state and the Government House, and construct micro water schemes for regular water supply.
Other highpoints of Rescue Budget Two include completing and equipping the ultra-modern diagnostic dialysis centre and the 27 new general hospitals currently under construction, sustaining the health-at-your-doorstep programme to reduce common health conditions, constructing a new house of assembly complex equipped with an electronic library and Internet facility lounge, and completing the ultramodern stadium in Orlu and Okigwe respectively.
