…Education, infrastructure, health, agriculture lead
By Adeyinka Adeniran
Oyo state Governor Seyi Makinde on Tuesday presented a total budget of N434, 221, 765, 938.79 for the 2024 fiscal year.
The figure is made up of a capital expenditure of NN222, 337, 320, 199. 85 and a recurrent expenditure of N211, 884, 445, 728.95.
He christened the 2024 budget as “Budget of Economic Recovery”, noting that the budget is a chance for his administration to show its responsiveness to the current economic situation in the country.
According to Makinde, the capital expenditure is 2.4 percent higher than the recurrent expenditure.
The governor said the budget estimates an increased Internally Generated Revenue of N72billion with an average of N6billion monthly.
Education got the highest share of the budget N90, 664, 994, 252 (20.88 percent). It is followed by infrastructure which got N74, 316, 325, 706 (17.11 percent); health has N40, 998, 197, 758.30 (9.44 percent) and Agriculture had N15, 848, 707, 310.80 (3.65 percent)
The governor presented the budget to the 32 members House of Assembly at an event with top government functionaries, traditional rulers, political office holders among others in attendance.
He said the government will continue to use technology to block loopholes noting that as done in previous years, the government has no plan of increasing tax.
He assured that the budget will cover projects, policies and actions which when implemented will cushion the effect t of the hardship the people are facing as a result of fuel subsidy removal.
Makinde who said his government has been proactive in responding to the hardship people face, added that the administration has taken all the necessary steps to ensure that the 2024 Budget addresses the economic challenges of the coming year and ensure that his vision of sustainable development in the state is achieved.
The governor, who commended the House of Assembly for its cooperation with his administration over the past years, urged the lawmakers to speedily consider the 2024 Appropriation Bill for passage for the benefit of Oyo State people.
Makinde said “I am happy to come before you today to present the 2024 Appropriation Bill. This year’s presentation is special in two significant ways. First, this is the first full budget presentation since our re-election into office in March 2023.
“This budget presents an opportunity for us to show how we are matching our promises as stated in our roadmap for sustainable development 2023-2027 with definite action plans.
“Second, this budget is a chance for our administration to show our responsiveness to the current economic head winds. You will agree that the effects of the removal of fuel subsidy and dollar-Naira currency by the federal government have brought hardship to our people.
“Therefore, this budget proposal will cover specific projects, policies, and actions that, when implemented, will cushion the impact of the economic issues that we are currently faced with.”
He said further, “it is against this backdrop that we have tagged this budget ‘Oyo State Budget of Economic Recovery’. It is my honor to present a total budget of N434,221,765,938.79. The total capital expenditure is N222,337,320,199.85 while the total recurrent expenditure is N211,884,445,738.94.
“What you will immediately notice is that we have been able to, once again, achieve a budget where capital expenditure is about 2.4 per cent higher than the recurrent expenditure. We believe that the growth of our economy is dependent on the fiscal decisions we take regarding our capital expenditure. Therefore, we are focusing on projects that will yield positive results for our economy in our areas of comparative advantage.”
The governor explained that the budgetary allocation for Education has remained consistent with his administration’s commitment to allocating over 20 per cent of the budget to Education, a development for which it has continued to receive commendations for matching the UNESCO standard for budgetary allocation on Education.
He added, however, that the government has also increased the sum allocated to education from N58billion in 2023 to N90billion in the 2024 Budget Proposal to help reduce the infrastructure and manpower deficit in the sector.
The governor equally stated that his government’s commitment to building infrastructure that targets the economic expansion of the state will continue in 2024, noting that the government will continue the 110 kilometres Ibadan Circular Road project and other ongoing projects such as the Saki-Ogbooro-Igboho Road, the Olorunsogo-Akanran-Dagbolu Road, among others.
He maintained that apart from the Circular Road, the allocations have also been made for the rehabilitation of 16 roads and four bridges in the 2024 Budget Estimates, adding that the government is estimating an Internally Generated Revenue of N72billion at an average of N6billion per month.
Governor Makinde also seized the opportunity of the budget presentation to reassure residents of Ibadan, the state capital, on the plan to construct internal roads within the metropolis, noting that the contract for the projects would be awarded within the next few days and contractors mobilized to sites on some of the inner roads.
In the health sector, Governor Makinde said the state government would go ahead with the upgrade and equipment of healthcare facilities with funds allocated in the budget.
He added that the state government would also work with international organisations and development agencies to ensure that secondary and tertiary health care facilities receive the necessary attention in bringing them up to standard.
“Mr. Speaker and the honourable members of the 10th Assembly, you will note the same marginal increase of about N4bn in the allocation to Agriculture. You will recall that we have initiated an input distribution package for our smallholder farmers under the SAfER initiative.
“We also work with the World Bank to provide input for our smallholder farmers under the Oyo State Cares programme. We plan to build on various interventions we have introduced to help them.
“At the same time, we will, in the next few months, be completing work on the Fashola Agribusiness Industrial hub. I am happy to report that the work done has further revealed the economic benefits of locating projects around our areas of comparative advantage. Because of this project, the Oyo Zone has been opened up for more business as this axis now hosts large and medium-scale agribusinesses. The Oyo-Iseyin road construction, which was commissioned in September 2023, is also driving businesses to this zone,” the governor added.
In his address, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin, commended the governor for steps he took to rebuild the state under Omituntun 2.0, adding that the governor has set out a new order of transformation towards sustainable development in the state.
He assured, on behalf of his colleagues, that the 2024 Budget Proposal would be given an accelerated consideration.
The event was attended by the Deputy Governor, Barr. Bayo Lawal; former Deputy Governor and National Deputy Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja; former Deputy Governor, Engr. Hamid Gbadamosi; Chief Judge of Oyo State, Mrs. Iyabo Yerima; Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Olanike Adeyemo, the Chief of Staff, Otunba Segun Ogunwuyi, Head of Service, Mrs Olubunmi Oni and commissioners.
Also in attendance were members of the State Elders’ Council and State Advisory Council, Dr. Saka Balogun; Elder Wole Oyelese; Senator Monsurat Sunmonu and Hon. Babatunde Oduyoye.
