Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, on Friday, signed the N98.6 billion budget for 2018 into law.
The House of Assembly had on December 19 passed the budget as presented by the governor.
Signing the budget at the Government House in Ado Ekiti, the governor commended the assembly for ensuring its early passage.
“This is the last budget I will sign as governor of Ekiti, having done the little God had helped me to do.
“ I commend the assembly for standing by me. It is my prayer that this assembly will continue to grow from strength to strength.
“You have demonstrated responsible leadership. I’m not in doubt record will show you as one of the best assemblies we ever had in the history of Ekiti.’’
The 2018 Budget, code-named “Budget of Accomplishment”, was presented at a plenary presided over by the Speaker Kola Oluwawole on December 5.
The budget is greater than 2017 estimates of N93.09 billion by 5.5 per cent.
It consists of N66.4 billion recurrent and N32.1 billion capital expenditures.
Fayose had said: “The recurrent to capital ratio is 67:33 as against 42:58 in the 2017 fiscal year.
”This was in consonance with the Fiscal Responsibility Plan which is globally acceptable.
“We have chosen to be sincere and be realistic with our people instead of having a bogus budget that is unrealisable.’’
He added that the budget would be financed through federal allocation (33 per cent), internally generated revenue (11 per cent), Value Added Tax (11 per cent), Education Intervention Fund (4 per cent) and sundry incomes (12 per cent).
He said the budget, when passed, would help to complete projects under construction
Meanwhile, Fayose has, again, condemned the Federal Government over its nonchalant attitude towards ending the fuel scarcity being experienced across the country, calling for immediate resignation of President Muhammadu Buhari as the minister of petroleum.
The governor, who reiterated his position that the All Progressives Congress (APC) Federal Government was punishing Nigerians with fuel scarcity so as to achieve its planned increment of petrol pump price from N145 to not less than N185 per litre, added that; “Already, fuel is being sold officially at between N180 and N200 at petrol stations across the country.”
In a statement on Friday, Fayose’s Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, quoted him as saying that “It is sad that this Buhari’s APC government had to choose this Christmas and New Year period to ground Nigeria with the fuel scarcity that it deliberately orchestrated.”
The governor called for the immediate resignation of President Buhari as the Minister of Petroleum, noting that “it is obvious that the president has failed in all ramifications and he needs to do Nigerians a favour by relinquishing the portfolio of minister of petroleum.”
Fayose said: “Like I said a few days ago, what the federal government is doing is to create scarcity so that Nigerians will be willing to buy at any price, provided the product is made available.
“It was to achieve this planned increment of petrol pump price that they restricted supply of petrol to NNPC alone.”
The governor, who sympathized with Nigerians for the hardship they are being made to go through by the APC government, said; “I warned Nigerians before President Buhari was elected and I am telling Nigerians now that the only option to rescue our country from being brought down completely is to vote out Buhari and his APC in 2019.”
