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| Gov Dave Umahi |
AN ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY,
ENGR. DAVID NWEZE UMAHI, FNSE, FNATE, GOVERNOR OF EBONYI STATE ON THE OCASSION
OF THE PRESENTATION OF EBONYI STATE GOVERNMENT 2016 BUDGET AND APPROPRIATION
BILL TO THE STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY ON THURSDAY, 10TH DAY OF
DECEMBER 2015.
PROTOCOLS….
Today
stands as a majestic witness to history as you graciously welcome me into this
your Hallowed Chambers to present the Government’s 2016 Budget and
Appropriation Bill.
Today,
together we have an opportunity donated to us by God to actualize our divine
mandate not through empty slogans and rhetoric but through tangible actions
which are given credence by the testimonies of the ordinary citizens of our
beloved state.
The
journey to this stage has not been an easy one as God never intended it to be
so but God was and still is with us. We
came a long way; we came against all odds, and we came in the name of the Lord
hence Divine Mandate.
I
must with all due respect offer my deep appreciation to some of you in the 5th
Assembly who stood against all odds to fight for Democracy and for the survival
of our collective will and wealth.
Threats and death could not deter you.
You loved not your lives but stood resolutely and courageously for truth
even at the threat and risk of death.
I
must thank the impartiality and professionalism of the Judiciary. All manner of devices were unleashed to
intimidate the Judiciary but its Leader and indeed all our men and women at the
bench, through God; frustrated the efforts of injustice.
My
thanks go also to our dear women, our elders, our youths, the clergy and indeed
all Ebonyians who stood and fought with us and God Almighty crowned the wishes
of the people. Our thanks for ever, goes
to our God, our Lord and the giver of power.
He is God. He came down and
planted the Giant Tree of Divine Mandate, fought the battle and frustrated the
complicated efforts of our detractors.
Mr.
Speaker and Honourable Members, today a journey to rebuild Ebonyi State from
its long eight years of neglect has just begun.
Today, everybody, men and women are free and have an unchallenging
choice of looking into the future with hope, faith and love.
Today,
we have a choice. Today we have a
decision to make. We make this choice
together as a people and we make our decision in freedom.
Today,
we continue the journey started a decade ago.
We may have had few delays but the Lord has His master plan which He has
manifested through Divine Mandate.
This
mandate is Divine and this is the reason we cannot fail. There may be distractions from our detractors,
those who purchased the future of our children but God is with us. Our future must be recovered through you and
other arms of government.
Today
we lay before you, my dear Honourable Members and Mr. Speaker, our 2016 Budget
Estimates and Appropriation Bill tagged, BUDGET
OF DIVINE ACTUALISATION.
I
strongly believe that our government is Divine and whatever that is Divine and
whatever is of God must come to actualization.
Our mandate, this budget, shall be actualized but we must fight and
labour for it but be assured that God is with us.
Before
I explain the 2016 Appropriation Bill, let me briefly review the performance of
2015 Approved Budget.
1. BRIEF REVIEW OF
2015 APROVED BUDGET: BUDGET OF REPOSITIONING
The
past administration on 30th December 2014 presented to this
Honourable House, her 2015 appropriation bill.
I am sure that the then Honourable House was willing to work on the
submitted budget estimates but the then Executives did not come up to defend
the budget. That situation dragged until
I was sworn in as Governor on 29th May 2015.
It
was in the month of June 2015 that I reviewed the budget estimates and made
some adjustments which I presented to this Honourable House on 22nd
of June 2015.
Let
me thank you very highly for allowing us to present the budget and I must even
thank you exceedingly high for passing the adjusted budget estimates into Law
within a record time.
Let
me again thank you for a priceless commitment in your prompt deliberations and
quick passages of all matters we ever sent to this House for your kind
consideration.
You
are indeed a divine partner in this our collective Mandate of God to reposition
this state of ours. That budget of 2015
was tagged Budget of Repositioning. I strongly
believe that we have tilted the direction of Ebonyi State and now properly
repositioned her fortunes to be actualized.
Mr.
Speaker, in our attempt to review this Budget of Repositioning which was
operated by this present administration for about six months now and seven
months by 29th December 2015, we have provided a breakdown below
which would hopefully throw some light on the fiscal challenges that we have
confronted in the period under review and the creative measures we have adopted
to make progress for the state and for our people.
A.
BUDGET SIZE FROR THE 2015 FISCAL YEAR
A
total budget outlay of N96.528 billion was approved, made up N37.719
billion representing 39.07% for
Recurrent Expenditure of and N44.917 billion representing 46.53% for Capital Expenditure and a
Stabilization Fund of N9 billion which is 14.4% of the Budget outlay in 2015.
B. REVENUE PERFORMANCE:
As at the end
of November, 2015, the State Government received a total Revenue of N56.326
billion against the N88.484 billion projected for the
period under review. This represents 58.48%
of the annual budget of N96.528 billion and 63.7% performance
for the period under review.
Honourable
Speaker and Honourable Members of the House, out of this N56.325 billion total
revenue, N3.471 billion accrued from
Internally Generated Revenue while N52.855
billion accrued from the Federation Account,
VAT and Loans.
C.
EXPENDITURE PERFORMANCE:
From
the Recurrent Expenditure provision of N34.567 billion, Government expended N25.069 billion indicating
72.5% annual Budget performance.
On
the other hand, out of the personnel cost provision of N11.101 billion, Government
made a total expenditure of N9.106 billion indicating 82% of the
annual budget and 89% performance for the period under review.
Furthermore,
the sum of N6.865 billion was expended on overhead out of N10.643
billion budgeted. This represents 64.5% of the annual Budget performance
and 70.4% performance for the period under review.
Mr.
Speaker and Honourable Members, it is pertinent to note also that the State Government has paid all workers salaries up to date. In fact,
for the past two months salaries of all workers in both Local Government and State
are paid on or before 20th of
every
month while all teachers in the local government and state receive their
salaries before 15th of every month.
In this month of December, junior workers at both local government and
state level will be paid 100% of their salaries as bonus while senior staff will
receive 50%.
D.
CAPITAL EXPENDITURE:
My
Dear Speaker and Members, a total of N44,917,750,000 was Budgeted
for Capital Expenditure, while a total of N31,256,432,160
had been expended indicating 69.6% performance
of annual Capital Budget and 75.9% performance for
the period under review.
It
is important to note that the Capital performance relates largely to the
transactions embarked upon by the present administration between June to November, 2015. This is
because the past administration was pre-occupied with electioneering activities
between January to May 2015 which
resulted to inactivity in governance especially
in the area of Capital Projects.
SECTORAL SUMMARY OF 2015 BUDGET
PERFORMANCE UP TO NOVEMBER 30TH 2015
S/NO
|
SECTOR
|
ANNUAL PROVISION
|
PERFAMANCE FOR 11 MONTHS JAN – NOV.
|
ACTUAL PERFAMANCE
|
%
|
1
|
Administrative
|
6,459,900,000
|
6,331,216,666
|
1,692,216,613
|
4.1
|
2
|
Economic
|
27,509,150,000
|
25,631,862,500
|
20,374,193,997
|
49.5
|
3
|
Law & Justice
|
15,000,000
|
11,250,000
|
501,893,969
|
1.2
|
4
|
Regional
|
257,000,000
|
192,750,000
|
18,955,987
|
0.04
|
5
|
Social
|
10,676,700,000
|
9,007,525,000
|
8,669,171,594
|
21.06
|
Total
|
44,917,750,000
|
41,174,604,166
|
31,256,432,160
|
75.9
|
The past administration has a
lso
expended a total of N4,311,804,073 out of N5,000,000,000 budgeted for the
payment of contractors handling various projects in the State. This represents
86% performance of the annual budget.
It is pertinent to note, Mr. Speaker,
that the above analysis of a part of the 2015 Budget performance are
crystallized into the following:
i.
The street light beaming through the
major streets of the State capital and beyond;
ii.
The ongoing rehabilitation of urban
roads in Abakaliki capital city;
iii.
Provision of portable water for the
people in Abakaliki capital city;
iv.
Other on-going projects in Education,
Agriculture, Commerce, Industry, Health, Prompt payment of workers’ salaries and
overhead running of government.
2. 2016 BUDGET POLICY THRUST
The 2016 Budget thrust of this
Administration which is anchored on the general principles of pragmatism and
dynamism in our leadership approach is broadly based on Human, Infrastructural,
and Economic Development of the State with the principal aim at achieving the
following:
1)
To Transform the State Capital into a
modern City;
2)
To provide Qualitative Education for
Ebonyians ;
3)
To provide portable Water for the
people;
4)
To aggressively tackle the problem of
poor road network within the State.
5)
To pursue mechanized Agriculture that
would eventually sustain the enviable status of the State in rice production;
6)
ICT Development;
7)
Empowerment of Youths and women
through positive Talent development
programmes;
8)
Rehabilitation of Ebonyians in
critical need;
9)
Employment opportunities for the teaming young
School leavers;
10)
Improved Health Care Delivery;
11)
Urban and Rural electrification programme,
particularly street lights in the Abakaliki Metropolis;
12)
Clean and habitable environment;
13)
Exploitation of our natural resources
at an industrial scale;
14)
Development of a minimum of 15km paved
road in each of the 13 Local Government Areas of Ebonyi State;
15)
Expansion of the pipe production
industry, reactivation of the building materials industry - all at Ezzamgbo and
establishment of one industry in each of our three senatorial zones;
16)
Our continued support to our
University and College of Education;
17)
Giving hope to our widows, less
privileged and physically challenged brothers and sisters;
18)
The welfare of our workers and the
generality of the citizens of Ebonyi State shall continue to form our first priority.
Mr. Speaker, my
administration is seriously inspired to tackle the various developmental
sectors catalogued above in order to cushion the level of suffering experienced
by Ebonyians over the years. In making these projections, we are not unmindful
of the present harsh economic meltdown arising from the persistent fall in oil
prices globally. As an alternative to oil economy, Government has resolved to
enhance Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the State through large-scale
rice production and people oriented tax policies.
Honourable Speaker
and Members of this highly respected Chambers, it is crucial to further note
that my administration will continue to raise the bar of governance through
prudent spending, transparency and accountability, high ethical standards in
the discharge of responsibilities, zero tolerance to corruption and strict
observance of due process and the Rule of Law.
3.
BUDGET INDICES:
The total Budget outlay of the 2016
Fiscal Year being presented to the Honourable House of Assemble of Ebonyi State
is N101,154,646,030
One Hundred and One Billion, One Hundred and Fifty Four Million, Six Hundred
and Forty Six thousand and Thirty Naira only,
which is slightly higher than the 2015 Budget by 4.8%. This is made up of
Capital Expenditure of N62,396,750,000.00
(representing 61.68%) and Recurrent Expenditure of N38,757,896,030.00 (representing 38.32%).
A.
HIGHLIGHTS OF REVENUE SOURCES:
Opening
Balance
The
Honourable Speaker and Members would recall the various loans you graciously
approved for Government to access for the developmental projects which would be
fully utilized in 2016 as follows:
i.
Dedicated Excess Crude Account Loan
through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for awarded ongoing projects in the
three senatorial zones (Dedicated
Account) amounting to N10,000,000,000.00;
ii.
Dedicated Loan from Federal Government
to all rice Producing States to boost rice production (Dedicated Account)
estimated at N2,000,000,000.00;
iii.
Dedicated UBEB Loan for Primary and
Secondary School Education estimated
at (Dedicated Account) N4,000,000,000.00;
iv.
Dedicated State/LG Joint Project Fund
in State Accounts(Dedicated Account) with a projection of N2,500,000,000.00;
v.
Funds from other Sources estimated at N500,000,000.00
Total
Opening Balance stands at N19,000,000,000.00
It
must be noted that the opening balance is also dedicated account and cannot be
used for other purposes other than those to which they are dedicated. Let me
emphasis that 97% of our opening balance is mostly loans and these are being repaid
through monthly deductions from FAAC effective from December, 2015.
B.
INTERNALLY GENERATED REVENUE (IGR)
Mr. Speaker, as we
all know, the dwindling position of oil price has
necessitated the need for emphasis on Internally Generated Revenue.
Accordingly,
my administration has set in motion plans that would aggressively pursue and
achieve a boost in Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in 2016 as follows:
vi.
Internal Resource (IGR) = N6,718,525,250
vii.
Expected Revenue from Rice & other Agric products N20,000,000,000
Total IGR N26,718,525,250
My
dear Speaker and Members of the House would recall that the major source of
revenue to our dear State had been from the Federation Account as may be
allocated to the State from time to time. All things being equal, it is
expected that such allocation would still be available to us irrespective of
the size; we have therefore made projections for allocations from the
Federation Account to the State during the 2016 fiscal year using oil price of
$38 per barrel speculation to wit:
viii. Statutory
Allocation = N25,727,887,330
ix. Capital
Receipts (including recovery
of over
deducted foreign loans)
= N12,708,233,450
x. Loan (Internal & External) N17,000,000,000
Sub-total N55,436,120,780
Grand
Total Projected Revenue for 2016 = N101,154,646,030
In
order to ensure effectiveness in the discharge of administrative functions and
obligations, sect oral allocations of Personnel and Overhead Costs have been
made to cater for the various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies as
contained in the overhead summary table to the Budget below:
S/NO
|
SECTOR
|
PERSONNEL
|
OVERHEAD
|
CONSOLIDATED
|
TOTAL
|
%
|
1
|
Administrative
|
1,205,777,594
|
7,927,128,000
|
-
|
9,132,905,594
|
23.56
|
2
|
Economic
|
1,925,923,486
|
1,517,200,000
|
19,578,978,140
|
23,022,101,626
|
59.40
|
3
|
Law & Justice
|
416,097,590
|
241,000,000
|
-
|
657,097,590
|
1.70
|
4
|
Regional
|
16,985,940
|
12,000,000
|
-
|
28,985,940
|
0.07
|
5
|
Social
|
4,128,105,280
|
1,788,700,000
|
-
|
5,916,805,280
|
15.27
|
Total
|
7,692,889,890
|
11,486,028,000
|
19,578,978,140
|
38,757,896,030
|
100
|
I wish to note further that N3 billion
is provided for stabilization of recurrent issues and all other Consolidated
Revenue Expenditure Fund (CREF) which is housed under economic sector of the
consolidated provision.
4.
HIGHLIGHT OF CAPITAL SECTORAL ALLOCATION:
A. ADMINISTRATIVE SECTOR:
i.
The Administrative sector got a total of N9.671 billion being 15.5% of total capital outlay.
ii.
Department of Talent Development got the highest with N3 billion representing 31%
of the Admin Sector allocation.
iii.
State House of Assembly got N1.161 billion representing 12% of Admin Sector allocation.
iv.
Others shared N5.510 billion representing 57% of Admin Sector allocation.
B.
ECONOMIC SECTOR:
Honourable Speaker, the economic
Sector has been allocated 59% of the Capital Budget with the basic aim of
tackling roads, water, electricity, agriculture, education, commerce and
Industry and other essential infrastructural needs at the State Capital and Rural
Areas of the State in following manner:
The Economic Sector got the highest
allocation of the Capital Budget with N36.890 billion representing 59% of the Capital Budget.
i.
Ministry of Works got the highest within the sector with N25 billion representing 67.8%.
ii.
Ministry of Water Resources got N3 billion representing 8.1%.
iii.
Ministry of Commerce and Industry got N2 billion representing 5.4%.
viii.
Others shared N6.89 billion or 18.7% of
the budget for the sector.
C.
SOCIAL SECTOR:
This sector got a
total of N10.304 billion representing 16.5% of the total Capital Budget.
i.
Education Sub-sector got the highest allocation with N5.909 billion representing
57.3% of the sectoral allocation.
ii.
Health sub-sector ranked second with N2.445 billion representing 23.7%.
iii.
Other MDAs shared N1.95 billion representing 18.9%
of the sectoral allocation.
D.
LAW AND JUSTICE AND REGIONAL SECTORS:
Law and Justice and Regional
Sectors received N1.117 billion and N0.203
billion respectively. The Judiciary comprises the High Court, Customary Court of Appeal and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), while the Regional
Sector covers the Capital City,
Abakaliki and environs.
The
Capital Expenditure is also allocated to the under listed five sectors
S/NO
|
SECTOR
|
CAPITAL
|
%
|
1
|
Administrative
|
9,671,850,000
|
15.5
|
2
|
Economic
|
41,890,000,000
|
67.13
|
3
|
Law
and Justice
|
430,000,000
|
0.70
|
4
|
Regional
|
100,000,000
|
0.16
|
5
|
Social
|
10,304,900,000
|
16.51
|
Total
|
62,396,750,000
|
100
|
Mr. Speaker and Members are invited to
note that N57.396 billion is the actual capital expenditure while the sum
of N5
billion is provided as stabilization fund for capital projects and is
housed under economic sector giving a total of N62,396,750,000.00.
Summary of the
Sectoral Recurrent and Capital Expenditure
S/NO
|
SECTOR
|
RECURRENT
|
CAPITAL
|
TOTAL
|
%
|
1
|
Administrative
|
9,123,905,594
|
9,671,850,000
|
18,804,755,594
|
18.6
|
2
|
Economic
|
23,022,101,626
|
41,890,000,000
|
64,912,101,626
|
64.2
|
3
|
Law and Justice
|
657,097,590
|
430,000,000
|
1,087,097,590
|
1.1
|
4
|
Regional
|
28,985,940
|
100,000,000
|
128,985,940
|
0.1
|
5
|
Social
|
5,916,805,280
|
10,304,900,000
|
16,221,705,280
|
16
|
Total
|
38,757,896,030
|
62,396,750,000
|
101,154,646,030
|
100
|
CONCLUSION:
Honourable
Speaker and Honourable Members of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly, I want to
thank you for giving me this opportunity to present to you the budget outlay
showing Revenue and Expenditure Estimates for the 2016 Fiscal Year. We are all
partners in the processes that perfected the enthronement of this
administration from inception to date and we do know that without Divine
support and approval we wouldn’t have been where we are today.
It
is for this reason that the State Executive Council (Exco) at one of its
meetings decided that the 2016 Budget should be tagged “Budget of Divine Actualization”.
As
can be seen, virtually all the sectors of the society are to be tackled very
aggressively to effect the desired actualisation. To do this, Government is
mindful that Federal Allocations to States have in recent time drastically
reduced and the only option is to properly strategize on how to increase the
volume of Internally Generated Revenue through enforceable tax policies and
large scale rice production, other agricultural developments and aggressive
exploitation of our solid mineral endowments.
It
is hoped that with your usual co-operation and support all the various projects
to be embarked upon in 2016 would be achievable.
We
also call for total commitment by all Ebonyians in the public and private
Sectors to join hands with Government by contributing in any way that would
complement Government efforts in not only moving the State forward but placing
the State in a position of honour and recognition among other States of
Nigeria.
Mr.
Speaker, although the Budget is indicative of high percentage from IGR, we
assure you that our tax drive would not impose hardship on Ebonyians as payable
figures would be arrived at through dialogue with Tax Payers within the first
quarter of 2016.
We
will do our best as Government to ensure that our vision is actualized for the
people of Ebonyi to rejoice.
The
budget we are presenting here today to this Honourable House has a ratio of
capital to recurrent of 61.68% to 38.32% which if achieved is a major indicator
of a viable growth and which will provide opportunities for investors to knock
on our doors.
Let
me state here, Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members, that appropriation bill even
when passed into law has an imputed potency that the actual expenditure will
always depend on actual income but it must be emphasized that this presentation
widely implies such.
Thank
you for your support and for your kind attention.
Engr.
David Nweze Umahi, FNSE, FNATE.
Governor
of Ebonyi State.
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.
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