From Geoffrey Anyanwu, Awka
Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State, has proposed N533 million in the 2018 budget for the conduct of Local Government elections.
Economic Planning, Budget and Development Partners, Mr. Mark Okoye, said the council poll was necessary to aid grassroots development. He explained that the 2018 budget was targeted at all-round development of the state, which according to him, was the main reason the local government election was captured in the budget estimate.
Okoye further disclosed the intention of the administration is to create over 10, 000 jobs to address the problem of unemployment in the state, saying this is in addition to other priority areas like poverty alleviation, community development and water, among others.
The 2018 budget, according to him, has five major policy thrusts namely, value for money, economic diversification, job creation, public-private partnership as well as strategic collaboration.
The commissioner described the budget as a bold step in the right direction as more revenue windows would be opened to raise Internally Generated Revenue from N1.4 billion per month to N2.5 billion monthly.