Ben Ayade, governor of Cross
River state, could not fight back tears when he signed the 2018 budget of N1.3
trillion into law on Tuesday.
In tears, the governor asked a
clergy in the audience to hold the signed copy of the budget in his hand and
lead everyone present in prayers for divine intervention to make the budget
realisable.
He kept shaking his head while
controlling his tears but managed to stand up for the prayers and the national
anthem rendered at the close of the ceremony before he left.
Earlier, he said the budget he
christened “Budget of Kinetic Crystallisation” is epochal in the history of the
state and the nation.
Cross River is the first to pass
the N1. trillion mark among states in the nation.
“This budget is indeed
kinetically crystallizing all our vision, but we must put all our hands on the
table,” he said.
“The state itself is in a
continuous state of gyration and easily agitated therefore we need a
stabilising factor like a budget of this nature that can change our situation.
“Part of the philosophy of this
budget will focus on human capital development and we say we will put food on
the table; which was still what we focused on in our year one and year two but
on this third year, we are amending the agenda; to be food on the table hand on
the plough.”
He said in the budget, there is
provision for social safety nets for low-income earners and the very poor.
“The budget is not by the
characteristics of our envelope or purchase capacity but, it is enveloped by
the capacity of our thought process. This budget is designed and tailored to
fit our dream and our dream is big,” he said.
“We have decided to focus on a
budget that will deal with the fundamental issues and commitments of this
administration. It is the fulfillment of the dreams and aspirations our people,
who decided to vote young people into power. Therefore, we must speak to power,
truth, commitment, energy and the sincerity of the fact that the intellect
drives the world not money.”
The budget report from the state
legislature had revealed that out of the N1.3trillion budget, estimated revenue
from internal sources is N40.7 billion and from the federation account,
N67.7billion is expected, totalling about N108.5billion.
Less than half of N0.3trillion is
expected as actual earnings receipt but the ambitious budget sets aside over
N1.1trillion for capital projects implementation.
That amount is being expected
from foreign investment that has not been secured in over two years despite the
numerous foreign trips of the governor and the visits to the state on the
invitations of the governor.
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