The Speaker, Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. (Elder) Udeme Otong, has reaffirmed the commitment of the 8th Assembly in prioritizing the wellbeing of the people of the State.
Speaking on Monday, while declaring open a Public Hearing on the 2025 Appropriation Bill conducted by the House Committee on Appropriation and Finance, Speaker Otong noted that the budget christened; ‘‘Budget of Consolidation and Expansion” underscores Governor Umo Eno’s unwavering commitment to the progressive intentions of his ARISE Agenda.
He said the 8th Assembly, being mindful of the expectations of Akwa Ibom people, will partner the Executive arm to ensure that these expectations are met inline with the ARISE Agenda of the state government.
Describing the Public Hearing as an important aspect of the budgeting process, the Speaker hinted that the exercise would afford relevant stakeholders and the public the opportunity to critically scrutinize and make useful inputs to the Appropriation Bill which has passed Second Reading, and currently at the committee level before it’s passage by the legislature.
In his words; “from an explicit perspective, we are gathered here to give the public and other stakeholders the opportunity to examine and make inputs to the 2025 Budget before its passage into law. This activity is a familiar tradition of the Legislature”.
“As a Pragmatic Assembly which is steadfastly mindful of the expectations of Akwa Ibom people, upon receipt of the Budget proposal, we wasted no time; but rather swung into action. As we speak, the Bill has passed through first and second readings, and was sent to the Committee on Appropriation and Finance for further legislative actions. Iam dependably informed by the Chairman of the Committee that other House Committees have concluded their interface with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) on which they have oversight responsibilities. This is to enable them ascertain their operation, size and coverage in the Budget Estimates.”
“Meaning is that barely two weeks after His Excellency’s visit, the Legislature, particularly the House Committee on Appropriation and Finance, has so far taken its job to the level of a Public Hearing, something which is in line with the policy of the 8th Akwa Ibom Legislative Assembly to treat all matters expeditiously, more so when it concerns the welfare of Akwa Ibom masses, the way this this Budget does”.
He commended the Chairman and Members of the House Committee on Appropriation and Finance for a job well done.
Earlier, the Chairman House Committee on Appropriations and Finance, Dr. Itorobong Etim, who is the member representing Uruan State Constituency, explained that the main objective of the public hearing is to create awareness and also mobilize concerted actions on the 2025 Budget proposals of the state.
She further disclosed that the exercise was aimed at providing an avenue where valuable inputs on the proposals would be assembled and collated to enhance the overall socio-economic development of the State.
It would be recalled that on Tuesday, the Governor, Pastor Umo had presented the 2025 Budget proposal before the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly. The 2025 budget estimate christened: “BUDGET OF CONSOLIDATION AND EXPANSION”, prepared in accordance with the International Pubic Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS) – Accrual Template. has a total budgetary outlay of N955.000 billion and is predicated on an oil benchmark of US $ 75.00 per barrel at a production rate of 2.12 million barrels per day with an estimated exchange rate of 1,400/US $ in line with the National Budget benchmark projections.
The policy thrust of the 2025 Budget is anchored on the ARISE Agenda of the present administration which covers: Agricultural Revolution, Rural Development, Infrastructural Maintenance and Expansion, Security Maintenance and Educational Advancement.
The 2025 Appropriation Bill has scaled first and second reading on the floor of House and was committed to the House Committee on Appropriations and Finance for legislative scrutiny and to report back to the House within three weeks.
Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Linus Nkan and his counterpart in the Ministry of Economic Development, Mr. Emem Bob and a representative of the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Uko Udom, (SAN) made presentations during the public hearing.
Other stakeholders including the Akwa Ibom State Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Civil society groups, Policy Alert, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) among others submitted inputs during the public hearing.
Meanwhile, Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government will from tomorrow, being Tuesday 10th December, 2024 defend their fiscal estimates in the 2025 budget proposal before the House of Assembly Committee on Finance and Appropriations.
Press Unit,
Office of the Speaker,
Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly (AKHA).
