Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, on Friday, signed the 2022 appropriation bill of N147.28 billion into law.
“With this, Abia State has sustained the January to December budget cycle and this budget becomes effective on January 1, 2022,” Mr Ikpeazu said, according to a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) by the governor’s spokesperson, Onyebuchi Ememanka in Umuahia.
The governor commended the Speaker and members of the state House of Assembly for their “commitment as well as expeditious review and passage of the 2022 appropriation bill”.
Mr Ikpeazu assured the assembly and the people of Abia of effective implementation of the budget for the peace, order and welfare of the people of Abia.
He urged ministries, departments and agencies with specific obligations that would facilitate the successful implementation of the budget to discharge their duties with seriousness.
The governor called on revenue-earning agencies in the state to redouble their efforts in discharging their duties with greater transparency and a deeper sense of patriotism.
The budget has a capital expenditure of N79.78 billion, while the recurrent expenditure has an outlay of N67.50 billion.
The governor had on December 14 presented a 2022 budget of N147.79 billion to the state House of Assembly. The budget was reduced to N147.28 billion by the lawmakers.