Lagos State set to implement 2020 budget as legislature passes N1.168tr appropriation bill

The stage is set for a diligent implementation of the Lagos State Government’s developmental agenda for 2020 following passage of the N1.168 trillion 2020 Appropriation Bill by the House State House of Assembly on Monday, December 30, 2019.

The passage came on the back of the presentation of a joint report by the house committees on Appropriation and Finance and Budget and Economic Planning.

Mr. Rotimi Olowo is the Chairman of the Appropriation and Finance Committee, while the Budget and Economic Planning Committee is headed by Mr. Gholahan Yishawu.

Yishawu noted that the approved budget contained 78 amendments as recommended by the joint committees and approved by the House through a voice vote conducted by the Speaker, Mr. Mudashiru Obasa.

He said with the amendments, the approved budget contained N451,528,914,805 from the Consolidated Revenue fund as the recurrent expenditure.

The lawmaker said the N711,032,979,185 was from Development Fund as the total capital expenditure.Yishawu explained that the total budget for the year ending December 31, 2020 was now N1.168, 561, 893, 990 trillion as against N1.168 trillion proposed by the executive.

It will be recalled that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had on November 8 presented a budget of N1.168 trillion with the theme “Budget of Reawakening”.

NAN reports that Sanwo-Olu had earmarked 62 percent, representing N723.75 billion of total spending, for capital expenditure, while the recurrent expenditure, put at 38 per cent, will take N444.81 billion.

Sanwo-Olu announced that the proposed budget would be funded from a projected Internally Generated Revenue of N1.071 trillion.

The budget deficit, put at N97.53 billion, will be financed through internal and external loans, while the fiscal proposal also included a provision for the new minimum wage.

Sanwo-Olu had said the proposed budget would help the state achieve a sustainable social investment and scale up private sector-led economic growth through investment in infrastructure and security.

He said it would also improve civic engagement in governance and foster partnership with the Federal Government and the civil society.