The Ondo State House of Assembly on Monday passed the N170.8 billion 2017 appropriation bill.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Sunday Olajide, had presented the report of the committee to the House at plenary.
Olajide said that the bill had undergone proper scrutiny by members while public sittings were held for all Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
He also said the assembly refrained from granting indiscriminate requests by MDAs because of paucity of funds.
He noted that the committee only redistributed funds to some critical areas, with a marginal increase of N1.12 billion recorded.
“Hence, the overall budgetary provision will now be N170,846,580,000,” he said.
Olajide highlighted the observation of the committee that the 2017 expenditure was carefully projected and set at sustainable level with due consideration for the present economic realities.
He said the committee, however, recommended that all MDAs should, ensure that the provisions in the budget were applied to the needs stated therein while the Board of Internal Revenue should make efforts to block all identified leakages.
The state government, he added, should take all the steps necessary to propel all income generating MDAs to embark on internally generated revenue drive in line with extant laws with a view to attaining their revenue target.
The Speaker of the House, David Oleyelogun, thanked all members of the committee for their efforts.
He also commended other members of the House for their cooperation and diligence while working on the appropriation bill.
NAN reports that the budget increased by N1.12 billion when compared with the N169,720,580 billion earlier presented by Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu on June 5.
The budget put the recurrent expenditure at N95.15 billion, capital expenditure at N59.18 billion, debt service at N8.12 billion and statutory transfer at N8.37 billion.
NAN also reports that the House had unanimously approved the budget after members deliberated on the report of the committee. (NAN)