TRUST, CONFIENCE AND CREDIBILITY BUDGET
ADDRESS BY GOVERNOR SAMUEL ORTOM AT THE PRESENTATION OF THE 2016 BUDGET APPROPRIATION BILL AT THE BENUE STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY COMPLEX ON THURSDAY 31st DECEMBER, 2016.
It is with a deep sense of responsibility and gratitude to God Almighty that I stand before you today to fulfill the constitutional obligation to present to you the 2016 budget estimates for your consideration and appropriation. This will be the first of several visits to perform such a function in the years ahead and we give God the glory and appreciate the Benue electorate for giving us the opportunity. Let me also appreciate the Benue State House of Assembly for the support and partnership in the service to the people of the state, even as you host me today.
budget 2016
I am delighted to perform this constitutional responsibility today because it marks a major milestone in our journey towards fulfilling our electoral promises to our people. This, we believe, will make Benue State a better place to live in. The proposed 2016 budget estimates represent the desire of my government for a new beginning and opportunity for growth and development. It is a plan that seeks to kick-start the process of diversification and the steering of our economy away from over reliance on a single source of income for survival. We wish to build trust, confidence and credibility between our administration and our people who popularly gave us their mandate on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
In the course of implementing this budget, we shall be faced with situations that require tough choices, I am however, confident that when that time comes, we will collectively make disciplined and deliberate choices that will further the course of Benue and her people. I believe strongly that with unity, confidence and determination, Benue will march steadily towards her destiny. Moreso that our administration which is anchored on the fear of God seeks to promote core values that make peace and development inevitable. These include transparency, accountability, justice, fairness, integrity, discipline, selflessness, integration, forgiveness, restitution and reconciliation.
Our administration has zero tolerance for corruption and we have stated clearly that ours is a call to service. Those whose desire is to make quick money have been encouraged to get into the private sector to do business which with the conducive environment that we are creating will yield quick returns. Anyone caught diverting public funds for private purposes will certainly be sanctioned. We therefore solicit the support of the legislature and judiciary in this crusade.
You may also be aware that we have instituted commissions of inquiry to ascertain income and expenditure from June, 2007 to the end of May, 2015, as we as establish state government assets in the state and other locations across the country. The Justice Kpojime Commission of Inquiry was set up as a fact finding Commission to provide a platform for those accused of plundering our commonwealth to defend themselves as the people who gave us the mandate sought to know why the state was brought to the brink. They want those who looted their funds to be identified and made to return the loot. We are committed to executing their wish within the ambits of due process and the rule of law.
Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members, you are all very familiar with the narrative of the environment we met on ground on assumption of office. However, permit me to briefly remind us all of the bleak situation we met on assumption of office and what we have done as responsible leaders to restore confidence, hope and bring back smiles to the faces of millions of our people.
When we came in, we met a mismanaged and comatose economy characterized by deficit treasury and high debt profile, huge arrears of salaries and retirement benefits, dwindling income from the Federation Account, falling oil prices, volatile exchange rate and high unemployment. There was a general sense of hopelessness and inability of government to attend to the very basic necessities of life as enshrined in the Constitution.
As a first step to restore the confidence of our people in governance, we moved swiftly with your support, to kick-start the economy with payment of two months salaries. During my inaugural speech I identified insecurity as a major challenge and announced an amnesty program. I am happy to announce that the program has yielded positive results with the surrender of over 700 possessors of illegal weapons embracing it. Over 500 assorted weapons and thousands of ammunitions have been surrendered and we are still counting. Those who embraced the carrot approach have gone through a retreat and will be absorbed into a rehabilitation program that includes a return to school, skills acquisition and integration into intelligence gathering network. The program is targeted at creating a conducive environment to encourage investment into the state. Already, the conflict between farmers and herders has been minimized even as we are committed to continuing with the amnesty program for which the sum of N 250 million has been budgeted in 2016. We quickly started the renovation of structures at School of Nursing and Midwifery, Makurdi preparatory to reaccredidation which it had lost for three years. The completion of the Assembly Complex is on-going. We made provision to cover the initial cost of take-off of the new administration including provision for counterpart funding obligations. Today, Mr. Speaker, the taps are running again in Otukpo and Katsina-Ala, the renovation of the School of Nursing and Midwifery is about to be completed while work is on-going on the Daudu-Gbajimba road and Yam Flour Mill at Katsina-Ala while the process of handing over the Wannune Tomato and Mango Processing Plant to a core investor is at an advanced stage. The College of Health Sciences has also successfully graduated the first set of Medical Doctors because of our efforts in securing accreditation for the institution. Recall that the students had spent 12 years before our intervention. We have also obtained the commitment of our Development Partners who were leaving the state in droves to remain and participate actively in our development programmes because of the provision that we made in meeting our obligations to the funding framework for continued support.
Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members, you will agree with me that in Benue State, the civil service is the backbone of most families and of the economy. Hence, in order to steer the economy away from further recession, we needed to put money in the hands of the civil servants that had accumulated for several months. Consequently, I approached the Honourable House and the House granted approval to enable us key into the funding window provided by the Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) specifically for payment of salaries. The CBN approved only part of our N69 billion application which we made to clear salary, gratuity and pension arrears and released N12, 503,000,000.00 and N15, 509,000,000.00 for only salary arrears for state and local government civil servants respectively. These releases have since been accessed and payments of arrears of salaries to state civil servants has been completed at the state level while that of the local government is 85% completed. The introduction of new payment platform by the local government administration to engender accountability and transparency delayed the early completion of the payment to local government civil servants. Let me use this opportunity therefore to thank His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, for his vision and leadership in providing that intervention to reduce the suffering of civil servants in Benue State and also to add that we look forward to Mr. President’s similar intervention in the plight of our pensioners. Perhaps it might be necessary to state that the N28 billion accessed is not a grant but a loan that would be paid over a twenty year period hence the need for its prudent and judicious utilisation.
REVIEW OF THE 2015 BUDGET
Mr. Speaker, you are already aware that the 2015 budget was proposed by my predecessor, appropriated by the Seventh Assembly and half way into implementation. However, on assumption of office, I proposed to the House and got approval for a supplementary budget of twelve billion, nine hundred and forty million, three hundred and fifty thousand, five hundred and eleven naira fifty kobo (N12,940,350,511.50) only to enable us attend to urgent needs of governance.
This development brought the total aggregate revenue estimate for the 2015 budget to the sum of one hundred and ten billion, eight hundred and ninety-two million, four hundred and seventy-six thousand, eight hundred and fifteen naira (N110,892,476,815.00) only. This figure is made up of sixty-three billion, two hundred and thirty-five million, five hundred and ninety-nine thousand, eight hundred and fifty-three naira (N63,235,599,853.00) only as our share of statutory allocation, nine billion, three hundred and forty-seven million naira (N9,347,000,000.00) only as internally generated revenue (IGR) and twenty-five billion, three hundred and sixty-nine million, five hundred and twenty six thousand, four hundred and fifty naira (N25,369,526,450.00) only from other receipts.
This total sum was appropriated into recurrent expenditure of fifty-nine billion and seventy-five million, one hundred and seventy thousand, two hundred and eighty naira (N59,075,170,280.00) only and capital expenditure of thirty-eight billion, eight hundred and seventy-six million, nine hundred and fifty-six thousand, twenty-three naira (N38,876,956,023.00) only respectively.
There was however, the need for additional supplementation to take care of provision for bailout on salaries, critical infrastructure and agricultural development as offered by the Federal Government to support state economy across the country. Accordingly, I have laid before the Honourable House, a supplementary request of twenty-four billion, five hundred and three million, four hundred and thirty-nine thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven naira, twenty-eight kobo (N24,503,439,787.28) for consideration and appropriation. This will bring the 2015 budget of Benue State Government to a total of one hundred and thirty-five billion, three hundred and ninety-five million, nine hundred and sixteen thousand, six hundred and two naira (N135,395,916,602.00) only.
PERFORMANCE OF REVENUE RECEIPTS IN 2015
Due to the earlier mentioned challenges, the revenue projection for 2015 budget performed poorly. The total revenue collected was sixty-nine billion, four hundred and forty-seven million, eighty thousand, six hundred and forty-nine naira ninety kobo (N69,447,080,649.90). Out of this amount, our total actual collection from Federation Account as at 31st December, 2015 is thirty-six billion, two hundred and sixty-seven million, seven hundred and eighty-eight thousand, three hundred and twelve naira, twenty-six kobo (N36,267,788,312.26) only representing 57.35% of our revenue projection from this source for 2015 and eleven billion, five hundred and forty-eight million, three hundred and fifty-six thousand, five hundred and fifty-eight naira, eighty-one kobo (N11,548,356,558.81) only from other sources. A total deficit financing of forty-five billion, two hundred and thirteen million, three hundred and sixteen thousand, seven hundred and forty-nine naira (N45,213,316,749.00) only is now provided to finance the budget during the year including the bailout, infrastructure and agriculture value chain development funds offered by the Federal Government through the CBN.
THE PROPOSED 2016 BUDGET ESTIMATES
Mr. Speaker, the implementation of the 2016 Budget will be shaped by the trust our people have in this government and our Trust in God; the confidence we have in ourselves to deliver quality services for our people and our credibility as leaders to do the right thing at all times in the interest of the people of the State. The 2016 Budget is therefore christened as “The Budget of Trust, Confidence and Credibility”.
Objectives of the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget
The fundamental and general objective for the 2016 is inclusive development as adequately encapsulated in the Five Pillars of “Our Collective Vision for a New Benue”. To achieve this, the present administration will continue on the path of transparency, accountability, equity, fairness, integration, rule of law, selflessness and service delivery in 2016.
Key Assumptions of Fiscal Year 2016 Budget
My administration in considering the expenditure profile of Government in 2016 has made the following assumptions as a guide towards the preparation and eventual implementation of the budget:
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