Cross River State Governor, Bassey Otu, signed the state’s 2024 budget, called the People First budget, into law on Friday.
The budget is worth N296.985 billion and is divided into N180 billion for capital expenditure and N116 billion for recurrent expenditure.
The amount is N96 billion more than the N250 billion initially proposed to the state House of Assembly. Governor Otu made these remarks during the signing ceremony in his office.
According to Otu, the rise was motivated by the need to offer enough financial support to those with impairments.
“The increase in the budget allocation for this community is not just a necessity but a moral imperative to erase social imbalance of special demographics as they are a vulnerable group.
“This increase will facilitate better access to healthcare, assistive technologies, education, and employment opportunities tailored to their capabilities; it is not just a fiscal decision but a statement of our values as a society.
“In addition, there is an upscale budgetary provision for payment of gratuity, debt services, counterpart funds, nutrition activities, social protection, climate change and gender-responsive budget,” he said.
