By Sunday Ani and Lukman Olabiyi
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has presented a N2.246 trillion budget estimate to the House of Assembly.
Speaking during the presentation, he said the figure comprised expected revenue of N1.847 trillion and deficit financing of N398.283 billion. Christened ‘Budget of Renewal’, the governor said the total revenue comprised the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of N1.251,322 trillion and total federal transfers of N596.629 billion.
He also said the budget estimate has a recurrent expenditure of N1.021 trillion, comprising total overhead cost, total personnel cost and recurrent debt service broken down as follows: total overhead cost of N527.782 billion, made up of overhead (N304.753 billion), and subventions (N123.010 billion); dedicated funds amounting to N100 billion, total personal cost of N319,230 billion and recurrent debt service of N174 billion
For the capital expenditure, he said: “We propose N1.224 trillion, as follows: Capital expenditure (N856.387 billion) and repayments (N367.893 billion).
The highlights of the budget include: Economic Affairs (N535 billion), Environment (N94 billion), Health (N156 billion), Education (N199 billion), Social Protection (N50 billion), and Public Order and Safety (N84 billion).
The governor also said the recurrent expenditure of N1.021,954 trillion represents 45 per cent of the budget while the capital expenditure of N1.224, 280 also represents 55 per cent. “The deficit financing shall consist of external and internal loans and bonds, which are well within our fiscal sustainability parameters.”
The governor. however, told Lagosians to be encouraged and inspired because better times lie ahead as the state is working closely with the Federal Government to ramp up relief measures to help the people of Lagos State alleviate the pains of the subsidy removal and the impact of high inflation.
“We have gone through some very difficult times, but while the pain is temporary, the dividends of the necessary investments we are making will be here to stay.
“We are especially concerned about transportation and food costs, and in 2024, we will be keying into the targeted food security initiatives of the Federal Government. For transportation, we are fully on board with the Federal Government’s CNG-powered buses initiative, which will deliver sizeable numbers of these buses to each state for public transportation.
“The development of any mega city like ours is the responsibility of both the public and private sectors, and to this end, we will continue to explore public-private-partnership strategies in the provision of infrastructure, social services, and the conversion of challenges to opportunities within the context of scarce resources. I am, indeed, very grateful to the members of the organised private sector that have always heeded our calls for partnership and shown great and uncommon civic engagement with our government,” he said.
On the performance of the 2023 budget, he said his government had implemented 78 per cent of the budget as of the end of third quarter and promised that by the end of the year, at least 90 per cent implementation would have been achieved.
In his response, Speaker Mudashiru Obasa told the governor that the lawmakers were partners in progress but they would not compromise on their oversight functions.
He, however, reiterated the Assembly’s commitment to support the executive, saying: “We pledge our support to the governor. We will work tirelessly to bring positive changes in Lagos along with Mr. Governor.”
He also commended the governor for his vision to the development of Lagos State.