Ayade signs Cross River’s 2021 budget of N281.7bn

The Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade, on Wednesday signed the state’s 2021 budget of N281.7billion.

The governor presented the spending proposal tagged: “Budget of Bliss and Blush,” to the state House of Assembly on October 5.

The lawmakers passed the budget on Tuesday evening.

Ayade, who spoke after signing the budget at the Government House in Calabar, said the state government has made provision for grants and welfare packages to cater for impacts of COVID-19 on the people of the state.

He said the government also made the provision for the establishment of a state polytechnic in the budget.

The governor said: “The budget of Bliss and Blush gross component is in the dramatic reduction of the budget size from N1.01 trillion to N281 billion.

”One will then ask what will happen to the missing gap and we had explained during the budget presentation that we are shifting from all the ‘big big’ dreams to primordial things of survival and ensuring that there is food on the table for the population.

“The 2021 budget is streamlined to meet the intended focus hence it made provision for only 5 percent on capital projects. For the 275 kilometre superhighway, the Bakassi Deep Sea Port and the Calas Vegas Island, the State Privatization Council in partnership with KPMG as consultants will work towards selecting the best investors who are available, willing, and capable to invest in these projects.”

The Speaker of the Assembly, Eteng Williams, said the lawmakers made some adjustments to the budget to accommodate new realities such as the establishment of a state polytechnic captured in the estimate.

 

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