GOVERNOR Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, on Tuesday, presented a budget size of N345.42 billion for the 2018 Appropriation Bill to the Ogun State House of Assembly.
The budget tagged “Budget of Accelerated Development” represented an increase of 57 per cent compared with the 2017 budget.
The education sector had the lion’s share of the budget with a sum of N79.246bn which represented 22.9 per cent of the total budget.
This was closely followed by Rural and Infrastructural Development/Employment Generation in which N73.606 billion was expected to be spent.
Other critical areas which covered the five cardinal programmes of the administration included Affordable Housing and Urban Renewal which will gulp N45.733 billion while N21.199 be and N21.137 be for Efficient Healthcare Delivery and Agricultural Production /Industrialisation respectively.
The governor explained that the 2018 budget would reflect on his administration resolve to work assiduously to deliver on the electoral promises it made to the people of the State.
Amosun explained further that the capital expenditure consists of N223.721bn; recurrent expenditure was put at N121.698bn; Personal Cost which made up of salaries and allowances would stand at N81.869bn while Pension and Gratuities accounted for N13.50bn which represented 3.9 per cent of total recurrent expenditure.
He also said that the balance of N39.829bn was set aside for the overhead costs.
Amosun added that the 2017 budget recorded a huge success which performance was put at 72.6 per cent, submitting that it was the administration “highest performance to date.”
The governor also said that his administration had drafted a State Development Plan that would chart a course from 2017 to 2030.
He said “Our vision is to have an Ogun State in which our natural endowments such as arable land, mineral resources, and people are being well harnessed to develop the full agricultural and industrial potential of the State. This must be done in an environmentally sustainable manner, whilst ensuring the maximum participation and prosperity of its citizens, in a secure, democratic, culturally expressive and creatively vibrant society.”
Earlier in his welcome address, the Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Suraju Ishola Adekunbi, remarked that the presentation of the 2018 fiscal year by Governor Amosun was in accordance with Section 121 (1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
He said this was another milestone in the annals of history of the State, as the administration took another giant stride in its quest to make the gateway State a point of reference among the comity of States of the nation.
Adekunbi seized the occasion to reel out the achievements of the Assembly in the current year to include the timely passage of nine all-inclusive Bills and eight resolutions, pointing out that the monumental transformation of the State from a mere civil service to an industrial destination of choice was apparent for all to admire.
He listed the bills to include: A bill for a law to provide for the establishment of the Moshood Abiola University of Science and Technology, Abeokuta, and that of the Ogun State Polytechnic at Ipokia, while it also passed the bill on the Ogun State Community and Social Orientation (So Safe Law). Others are People with Disability Law of Ogun State, and Violence against Persons (Prohibition) law of Ogun State among others.
The Speaker stressed that the contributions of the Assembly were fundamental to the lofty strides recorded since the inception of the administration through its dogged performance of its constitutional roles of lawmaking, oversight, quasi-judicial functions and representation, which according to him were made possible by the peace and tranquillity enjoyed by the 8th Assembly despite the heterogeneous nature of political party representation of members.
In his closing remarks, Speaker Adekunbi reassured that members of the 8th Legislature in partnership with other arms of government would re-dedicate themselves to further actualize the State’s collective goals as articulated in the 2018 budget estimate.
The Speaker also reiterated his colleague lawmaker’s support to the passage of bills and resolutions what would further facilitate the provision of the required policies and legal framework required by the government to enhance the provision of more infrastructural facilities and other necessities for improved quality of life for all residents of the State.
and then