Bayelsa State Governor, Duoye Diri has presented the sum of N242billion as the budget estimate for the 2020 fiscal year to the State House of Assembly.
Governor Diri who christened the document as Budget of Consolidation for Prosperity 2020, noted that capital projects embarked by his administration will gulp N46.7billion.
He explained that following the sharp fall of crude oil, the state government will have to focus on an alternative source of funding.
Christened “Budget of Consolidation for Prosperity 2020”, the total estimate of N242.2 billion was allocated to works and infrastructure, agriculture, health and education topping the scale of preference.
The 2020 budget estimate is, however, less than that of 2019 which had 275.8 billion naira, with a difference of N33 billion.
Reacting to the drop, the governor attributed it to the prevailing economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On his part, the Speaker of the House, Abraham Ingobere, assured the governor of expeditious passage to enable the government to meet up with the needs of governance.
The maiden presentation of the 2020 budget by Governor Diri comes two months after he was sworn in as the fifth executive governor of Bayelsa State.