AWKA – The Anambra State House of Assembly on Friday May 29, 2020 passed the Anambra State revised 2020 budget. The revised budget tagged “Anambra State Revised 2020 COVID-19 Appropriation Bill”, is a revision of the Anambra state 2020 budget that was passed in October 2019, but no longer feasible as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which has altered all economic projections upon which the former budget was based.
In 2019, Anambra Assembly was among the first Houses of Assembly to pass the 2020 budget which size was N137. 1 billion. However, the size of the revised budget passed by the Assembly is N114.9 billion, showing about N23 billion cut in the size of the original budget, for the year 2020.
The revised budget was submitted to the House of Assembly earlier in the week, but read for the first and second time during the House plenary on Thursday 28 May 2020 and referred to the Finance and Appropriation Committee of the Anambra State House of Assembly. But the Assembly reconvened today Friday, 29 May 2020 to consider the report of the Finance and Appropriation Committee after which the budget was passed, late in the evening.
A look at the revised budget passed by the Assembly reveals extraction of funds from some Ministries Department and Agencies (MDAs) of government and addition of extracted funds to some other MDAs. About N20 million was moved from the ministry of road construction, beautification and maintenance, formerly Ministry of Works, while about N69 million was also moved from Government House budget.
The Ministry of Health however received a boost to the tune of an additional N340 million, while the House of Assembly got an additional N80 million.
Responding to WAP correspondent, the Chairman of Anambra State House of Assembly Finance and Appropriation Committee; Hon. Obinna Emenaka said that the revised budget was necessitated because “all key indicators upon which the former budget was based, could not be met because of COVID-19”. Speaking further, he remarked that “without budget, the state cannot function, and you know, budget is based on expected revenue upon which proposed expenditure is derived”.
Reacting to some of the changes that resulted in cutting funds from some ministries and adding to others, Hon. Emenaka noted that “budget cannot come to the House and just be passed like that. We have to look at it; we have to look at the priority areas. We saw need to review and move funds from one place to another. For instance, we looked at the immense importance of the ministry of health, especially considering the times, so added N340 million to the ministry”.
He is a Technical Assistant to Governor Willie Obiano’s Special Adviser on Legislative Matters, whoonce was a Special Adviser to a former Deputy Speaker of Anambra State House of Assembly. Ebuka is a second class upper division graduate of Political Science from University of Calabar, Calabar Nigeria and holds a Masters Degree in Political Science with specialization in Government and Development Studies, from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Nigeria
