Governor Otu proposes N498 billion as 2025 budget

Calabar, October 29, 2024 – Cross River State Governor Bassey Otu, has proposed the sum of N498 billion as 2025 budget for the State.

Presenting the proposal at the hallowed chambers of the State House of Assembly on Tuesday, Governor Otu attributed N328 billion (66%) to Capital Expenditure and N170 billion (34%) to Recurrent Expenditure.

A further breakdown earmarked N100 billion for Infrastructure, N81 billion for Education, N25 billion for Health, while N20 billion was set aside for the Judiciary.

“House of Assembly N18 billion, Aviation N16 billion, Special Duties/Intergovernmental Affairs N15 billion, Power N14 billion, Agriculture N11 billion, Tourism N5 billion, Science, Technology and Innovation N4.7 billion, Women Affairs N3.7 billion, Information N3 billion, and others N181.6 billion,” the Governor revealed.

The Governor outlined Federal Allocation, Grants from International Organisations, and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) as major revenue sources to fund the 2025 budget.

“The 2025 Budget, like the previous year’s budget, is benchmarked on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The decision to continue with the SDG benchmark is to guarantee the continuity of projects and programs that may not be completed in this current budget cycle. This necessitated the need to roll over to the 2025 fiscal year.

“For this reason, we have deliberately placed emphasis on SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; SDG 4 – Quality Education; SDG 3 – Good Health and Well-being; SDG 2 – Zero Hunger; as well as SDG 16 – Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions,” Otu stated.

According to a statement by the Governor’s spokesperson, Mr Nsa Gill, on Monday, Otu informed Cross Riverians that his administration’s adherence to strict financial prudence had placed the state as the ninth-best state out of the 36 states in the 2023 Fiscal Performance Ranking, adding that “These indices have gone to confirm that development is not a linear achievement; rather a multidimensional process, where our progress is not measured solely by economic indicators, but by various dimensions interconnected to contribute to the overall well-being of the citizenry.”

While reassuring the citizens that his administration’s policy preferences are meant to snowball into the common good of the people, the Governor also thanked the leadership of the State House of Assembly for building a common consensus among members to cooperate with the Executive and Judiciary Arms of Government to achieve a prosperous Cross River State.