Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State on Thursday presented a budget of N267b, which represented an increase of 28% on the 2017 budget to the state House of Assembly.
The budget christened “Budget of Stabilization” has a difference of N60b from that of 2017 which had the figure of N207b.
Ajimobi while presenting the budget disclosed that the budget submitted for consideration and approval of the legislature stood at N267,436,357,912.19, stressing that detailed facts behind the budget would be made known later by the State Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning.
He explained that the proposed budget was expected to be funded from Internally Generated revenue of N112.10bn, Federation Account N93.68bn, Capital Receipts of N43.72bn, Transfer (LG, JAAC for LGSPB & LGSC) of N7.53bn and an unspent income of N10.40bn from 2017.
Ajimobi said that the structure of the 2018 budget proposal reflected the priority the government had accorded the various sectors in terms of their expected developmental effects, noting that the relative aggregate sectoral allocations were Economic Sector N85.390bn (57.29%), Social Services Sector N54.280bn (36.42%), Law & Justice Sector N0.517bn (0.35%) and General Administration Sector N8.860bn (5.94).
He said “The aggregate percentage of 93.71% of the capital expenditure allocated to the economic and social sub-sectors underscores the State Government’s determination to continue to pursue a people-centered, empowerment-focused agenda. We consider this as the best antidote to the problem of poverty amongst our people.
“It is to be recalled that apart from consistently utilizing more than the stipulated minimum of all the recurrent intervention from the federal government to settle salary/pension and arrears, our administration had conceded 100% monthly allocation from the federation accounts to payment of salaries and pensions of the State’s work force”.
He pointed out that elections into Local Government Areas and the newly created Local Council Development Areas will hold in 2018.
“This is intended to bring governance to the door steps of the people and to enhance development at the grassroots. Therefore, the content and structure of this proposal have captured our vision towards achieving this and the continuation of our developmental strides in the 2018 fiscal year”, he said.
Ajimobi hinted that necessary actions would be taken to further control hazards associated with sanitation and street trading as more neighborhood markets would be established to cut down on centralization of social facilities in the cities which always lead to urban crisis.
Areas where rehabilitation and expansion of water projects would be embarked upon in the coming year include rehabilitation of Igboho water supply scheme at a cost of N474m, rehabilitation of Owode water supply scheme with N200m, expansion of Ogbomoso/Ikoyi-Ile water supply scheme and procurement of water treatment chemical, worth N500m.
“It gladdens me to register my sincere appreciation for the wonderful support that our administration has enjoyed from all segments of the State.
“These range from our highly revered traditional rulers to community, political, opinion leaders, professional and trade groups, market women, civil society and nongovernmental organizations as well as students across all educational levels.
“You have all demonstrated to us your readiness to contribute directly or indirectly to the State’s economic growth. On the other hand, I appeal to tax defaulters to perform their civic responsibilities and join hands with others to contribute to government efforts at advancing the development of the State with its attendant socio – economic benefits”, he said.
Speaker of the Assembly, Hon. Micheal Adeyemo while speaking promised to support the administration of Senator Abiola Ajimobi and work in harmony with the executive to see to the transformation and repositioning of the State.
Present at the presentation were former Deputy Governor of the state, Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja; Former Senate Leader, Senator Teslim Folarin, Former Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Ashimiyu Alarape.
Others include the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi; Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba Salawudeen Adekunle Ajinese 1; Eleruwa of Eruwa, Oba Samuel Adegbola, members of Olubadan-in-Council, Ambassador Olu Sanu, among others.
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