Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue on Tuesday, presented the 2017 Appropriation Bill of N163.9 billion to the Benue House of Assembly.

Ortom made the presentation on the floor of the house during plenary.

The governor said that the Appropriation Bill was christened: “Budget of Rural Transformation’’, stressing that it should be considered a collective vision of a new Benue.

He said that out of the total sum, recurrent expenditure was N66.348 billion, while capital expenditure stood at N97.562 billion.

The governor said that recurrent expenditure constituted 40 per cent of the entire budget, while capital expenditure constituted 60 per cent.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 2016 Appropriation Bill was N150.7 billion.

He listed the sources of revenue in which the state hoped to realise the funds from Federal Allocation, Tax, Non-Tax, Aids from donors, Domestic Borrowing among others.

He said that in order to make judicious use of the state funds, he had reduced his entitlements and that of his deputy.

‘`I have also reduced overseas travels by all public office holders,’’ he said.

The Speaker, Mr Terkimbi Ikyange, commended the governor for timely submission of the budget despite several hurdles.

Ikyange urged the governor to overhaul the budget process of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), which is usually considered by them as a mere annual ritual.

He assured that as soon as the legislators come back from the Christmas break, they would swing into action in order to get the budget passed speedily. (NAN)

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