It will be recalled that the State Governor. Mr Akinwummi Ambode, had requested to reorder the 2017 budget to the tune of N42..028bn, but after taking the report of the ad hoc committee headed by its acting chairman, Hon. Rotimi Olowo, members slashed the request by N17bn due to what they deemed “insufficient information.”
Key components of the original budget showed recurrent expenditure as N300.535billion while N512.464billion was dedicated to capital expenditure, which represents a capital/recurrent ratio of 63 per cent to 37 per cent.
But with the passage, the 2017 budget stands at N494.447bn for capital expenditure while recurrent expenditure is now N301.551bn while the N17bn remaining was stepped down.
Meanwhile, the request to re-order the Paris Club refund loan of N17bn to address the challenge of transportation in the State was stepped down as members were not satisfied with the information provided by the MDAs.
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Olowo had explained earlier that there was need to pass the review of the budget as requested by the Governor in order to address the challenges of transportation, flooding and insecurity.
While leading the debate, Hon. Oluwafunmilayo Tejuoso stated that “there are some grey areas that needed to be addressed before passing the budget. “There was no enough clarification. As Lagos State House of Assembly, we should be careful; we are concerned about transportation. However if they could not give enough information on the issue, we should thoroughly look at it before passing it,” she said.
The Speaker, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, however said the Governor should be commended for having the foresight to utilise the Paris Fund judiciously.
“I think we should commend the Governor and his team for utilising the Paris Fund for the ease of Lagosians. We are all aware of what is happening in some states where the fund is used to pay salaries, while other states could not account for it.
“We are willing collaborators with the Governor to do what will be of good to Lagosians. Since there is need for clarification, we will drop that leg on the recommendations,” he said.
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