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Moshood Adebayo, Lagos
The Lagos State government has projected the sum of N136.100 billion as sectoral allocation to Education in its 2020 budget of N1.169 trillion, making it the highest allocation to any sector.
It is N70.407 billion higher than that of the 2019 budget of N65.693 billion, which is made up of N711.033 billion for Capital Expenditure and N457.529 billion for Recurrent Expenditure.
The Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr Sam Egube, who provided the budget analysis, said the education budget provides for the construction and rehabilitation of 300 schools, provision of furniture and equipment for science laboratories, among other projects.
Egube also disclosed that the state government had projected Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for 2020 at N886.041 billion.
With this annual IGR projection, he added that the Babajide Sanwo Olu administration is targeting about 73.86 billion monthly IGR to finance the state’s 2020 N1.169 trillion budget, tagged ‘Budget of Awakening’.
He expressed optimism that the state government would achieve the IGR target through expanding the tax net through the deployment of technology and other initiatives.
This, he further disclosed, would include massive investments in technology and other facilities to improve the operational efficiency of all revenue-generating agencies.
To achieve this, Egube said about N500 billion would be raised by the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service.
“We believe that there are huge revenue-generating opportunities in the informal sector, including real estates, transportation for which Lagos State is known for,” the Commissioner said.
The allocation for Roads and Infrastructure, which got the second-highest allocation with a N117.248 billion, would, according to Egube, help in addressing the state’s zero-pothole policy, as well as create links roads within the metropolis to resolve traffic congestion and its attendant risks.
In a bid to address the menace of traffic gridlock in the state, the state government also budgeted a total of N44.510 billion as against 2019’s transportation budget of N17.590 for the Blue and Red rail lines and junction improvements around the state, as well as the completion of trailer parks.
A total of N111.775 billion, as against the sum of N53.141 billion last year, was provided for the Health sector, particularly for the continuous upgrading/renovation of health facilities and completion of ongoing healthcare infrastructure, including Maternal and Child Care Centres and the health insurance scheme.
To enhance security and sustain law and order, the sum of N39, 265 billion was allocated for the support of security services, particularly for the provision of security vehicles, gadgets and logistics support.
