Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, on Friday, signed the N149.5bn 2013 appropriation bill into law.
Oshiomhole had on Nov. 8, presented a budget estimate of N150.045bn to the state house of assembly for approval.
"With the passage, the executive arm of government now has an approved budget to work with from the beginning of the New Year," Oshiomhole said. "We acknowledge that the assembly scrutinised and altered the original document, because what I'm signing is not exactly the same document we proposed to the house. I'll say that it is a clear demonstration of the essence of separation of powers and that the document is in fact much better.
"It also goes to show that the assembly is not a rubber stamp, but one that has added value to the original proposal."
The governor expressed hope that with the passage of the Property Charges Law, internally generated revenue would increase and the government would have more money to execute its development programmes.
Oshiomhole said his administration had been able to reduce recurrent expenditure, adding that recurrent expenditure for the 2013 fiscal year stood at 40 per cent of the total budget, while he put capital expenditure at 60 per cent.
