Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu yesterday presented an N2.23 trillion appropriation bill to the House of Assembly for the 2024 fiscal year.
The ‘Budget of Renewal’ is made up of recurrent expenditure of N1.02 trillion (45 per cent) and capital expenditure of N1.224 trillion (55 per cent). The state envisages N1.847,951 trillion in revenue for the year,
Economic Affairs takes a chunk of the budget proposal with N535 billion while Education comes second with N199 billion.
The provision of “very important infrastructure viz Fourth Mainland Bridge, Food and Logistics Hub, Lagos/Epe International Airport” falls within “Economic Affairs.”
A further breakdown of the proposed budget shows that Health will take N156 billion; Environment, N94 billion, Public Order and Safety, N84 billion and Social Protection, N50 billion.
Sanwo-Olu noted that the 2024 appropriation bill will further cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal and other economic hardships on the people.
He said: “Mr Speaker, I am indeed privileged to present to you today the Y2024 Budget proposal, tagged ‘The Budget of Renewal’. The process of putting this together has been very carefully guided by our THEMES Governing agenda, which has been with us since the start of the administration, and which we have recently expanded to THEMES+, the ‘+’ embodying our renewed focus on social inclusion, gender equality and youth development; our goal that in Lagos State, no one should or will be left behind.
“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 working closely with the Federal Government to ramp up relief measures to help the people alleviate the pains of the subsidy removal and the impact of high inflation.
“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 sizable numbers of these buses to each state for public transportation.
“The development of any megacity like ours is the responsibility of both the public and private sectors. 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.”
The governor noted that the 2023 budget of N1.7 trillion, as of Q3 ending September 30, had achieved a N1.032 trillion implementation, representing 78 per cent of the prorated estimate of N1.326 trillion.
Speaker of the Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, said the budget must address the daunting economic challenges, and must be tailored towards improving the lives of residents.
Obasa, in his remarks after the governor’s presentation, said the government should begin to look at better ways to alleviate poverty beyond giving out packaged foodstuff.
The speaker also called for the employment of more people for the effective implementation of government policies, as well as effective youth engagement through sports and related activities.
He said: “It is important for us to apply the right indices towards ensuring a performing and functioning budget that would lift our people out of poverty and reposition the state towards infrastructural growth and renewal. Palliatives should move from just giving people ‘garri’, rice, beans or even money. We should have a direction that is focused, impactful and deeply backed up by effective policy implementations.
“Medicines should be provided at all public hospitals at subsidised rates, and focus should be on the downward review of treatment costs..”
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