Barely two days after its presentation, Bayelsa State House of Assembly has passed the N242.187 billion 2020 Appropriation Bill into law.
During the plenary of the assembly on Thursday, the lawmakers accepted the bill to scale through second and third readings in a single sitting, citing the COVID-19 crisis as the reason for the speedy passage of the appropriation bill.
Governor Douye Diri on Tuesday presented N242.3 billion as the proposed estimate for the 2020 fiscal year in the state.
The passage of the bill on Thursday followed the adoption of the report of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation at the floor of the house during plenary.
Majority Leader of the house, Mr Monday Obolo (PDP, Southern Ijaw ll) while moving for the consideration and passage of the Appropriation bill, noted that the bill has to be given speedy passage because of COVID-19, which he said is ravaging the whole world.
He added that the budget would serve the purpose it was meant for, especially in meeting the aspiration of the Bayelsa people.
Seconding the motion, Mr Munalayefa Gibson (PDP, Ogbia ll) said the people of the state needed accelerated development, hence the speedy consideration of the bill.
The Speaker of the house, Abraham Ingobere, commended the lawmakers for the speedy passage of the bill, explaining that the house properly scrutinised the recurrent and capital expenditure of the budget.
He noted that the timely presentation and passage of the bill would enable the government to commence timely implementation of the budget.
The breakdown of the budget had N51.646 billion earmarked for personnel cost, N52.327 billion for overhead, N91.478 billion for consolidated revenue fund charges while N46.736 billion for capital expenditure.
