Dickson proposes N150bn budget for 2016

The Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Seriake Dickson, has proposed a budget of N150.645bn for the 2016 fiscal year.

The governor named the 2016 Appropriation Bill “Budget of Transition”, presented it to the state House of Assembly in Yenagoa for consideration on Friday.

The current estimate is a sharp drop of 2015 budget of over N320bn.

The Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Konbowei Benson, who presided over proceedings, received the 2016 budget document from Dickson.

The state government plans to spend N99.380bn as recurrent expenditure with N51.265bn earmarked for capital receipts.

The state government said it intended to spend N43.126bn as personnel cost and N20.270bn as overhead, while consolidated revenue fund charges stood at N6.850bn and capital expenditure was N25.399bn.

Dickson allocated a lion’s share of N5.200bn to Works and Infrastructure. Education got N4bn; health, N2bn; sport, N1bn; community development N1.7bn and agriculture and natural resources N1.365bn.

Others include tourism, N1.150bn; housing, N1bn; transport, N1.420bn; power, N720m; water resources, N384.240m; information, N460m; finance, N200m; and budget and economic planning N250m.

The governor also told the 24-member Assembly that “security will receive massive investment” in view of the magnitude of violence that characterised the just-concluded state governorship election.

Curiously, Dickson has yet to announce allocations for the ministries of Environment, Science, Technology and Manpower Development, Culture and Ijaw National Affairs, Mineral Resources, and Women and Social Development in the 2016 budget.

He, however, hinted that he would forward a supplementary budget to the Assembly  if the revenue allocations to Bayelsa from the Federation Account and other revenue sources  improved.

He said the budget would prioritise the completion of ongoing projects and programmes of the state in the new fiscal year.

He stressed that government would also think of ingenious ways of shoring up internally generated revenue.