The Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha has finally presented a budget of N190, 921, 464, 290bn to the state House of Assembly for the 2018 fiscal year.

The 2018 budget, which was higher than that of 2017 by N59, 778, 320, 013 representing 45.58 per cent was tagged, “Budget of Consolidation and Continuity III.”

N132.98bn out of the budget is for capital expenditure representing 69.70 per cent of the total budget while N57.943bn or 30.30 per cent will be spent on recurrent expenditure.

Presenting the budget on Wednesday at the chambers of the Imo State House of Assembly, Okorocha said, “The 2018 budget will not only consolidate our development efforts but it will ensure prudence and efficiency in our expenditure programmes.

“This administration intends to use the limited resources at our disposal to achieve maximum impact. We intend to achieve synergy through collaboration and integration of programmes and projects at all levels in order to realise our vision of making Imo better. All relevant agencies of government will be strengthened to gear up towards their constitutional responsibilities to ensure that all programmes and projects are monitored.”

Giving a breakdown of the budget, Okorocha said Works and Transport had the lion’s share with N39,811,300bn and followed by Education with N13.5bn. Agriculture and Environment, he said, had N7,622,990,049, while Culture got N440,244,096.

Reviewing the period before his administration in 2011, Okorocha said, “The state was characterised by excessive traffic congestion in Owerri, Orlu, and Okigwe. Insecurity particularly in the areas of kidnapping and armed robbery were highly prevalent across the 27 Local Government Areas of the State.”

“All these constituted part of the major challenges the administration faced when it came on board in 2011. However these problems have been progressively addressed and drastically reduced.”