Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State on Monday presented a budget
proposal of N109, 199 billion for the 2019 fiscal year to the State
House of Assembly for consideration and passage.
Presenting the 2019 budget proposal tagged: ‘‘Budget of peace, equity
and prosperity’’, Gov. Ugwuanyi disclosed that the appropriation bill
was 5.44% higher than the 2018 budget of N103, 563 billion.
The governor added that the increase was in keeping with his
administration’s promise last year to expand its expenditure vis-à-vis
projects and programmes of the state as the economy of the nation
improves “to ensure that every citizen and residents of Enugu State
will reap the full benefits of the dividends of democracy”.
Gov. Ugwuanyi who stated that his administration has implemented the
previous budgets to N85%, explained that “out of the total budget
proposal of N109.199 billion, the sum of N65.7 billion, representing
60.17%, is for recurrent expenditure. He noted that “this is higher
than the 2018 figure of N60.7 billion by 8.22%.
He disclosed that capital expenditure stood at N43.493 billion
representing 39.3% of the budget size, which is also higher by 1.5%
than the 2018 figure of 42.846 billion.
The governor revealed that works and infrastructure would gulp the
highest amount of N16.5 billion because of the premium the state
government placed on infrastructural development of the state.
He maintained that the government intends to complete all ongoing road
projects and construct new ones across the 17 local government areas
of the state as well as provide other critical infrastructure that
will stimulate economic growth and job creation.
Gov. Ugwuanyi added that the health sector was allocated the sum of
N2.37 billion, stating that the sector received a boost in its
financing to enable his administration fully equip the already
completed Enugu State Medical Diagnostic Centre to commence operation
in 2019. The governor pointed out that the state government also
intends to sustain and improve on the services being provided through
free maternal and child healthcare programme.
“We want to ensure that our children, pregnant and nursing mothers do
not die from preventable ailments, thus we have set aside the sum
total of N2.37 billion to all the ministries, departments and agencies
under the health sector in the 2019 fiscal year”.
According to him, agriculture received an allocation of N633.5m to
consolidate the efforts of his administration towards
commercialization of the sector to achieve food security in the state,
while N5.522b went to the education sector to sustain the tempo of
government in the ongoing compulsory free education from primary to
junior secondary schools; renovation, construction and equipping of
schools at all levels, among others.
The governor equally announced that the sum of N742m was budgeted for
the expansion of Enugu and Nsukka urban water scheme, boosting of
small town water supply project and the state rural supply project and
the State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (ENRUWASA) with the
aim of “making potable water available to our people irrespective of
whether they live in a rural or urban area”.
