Budget Scales for Lagos 2024 enters Second Reading

A joint committee of the House will properly examine the 2024 Appropriations Bill, which Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu presented last Wednesday, according to a statement made by the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, on Monday.

For the benefit of the people of Lagos State, Dr. Obasa urged the joint committee on economic planning and finance to make sure it works hard enough to produce a well-examined budget in three weeks.

This occurred during a plenary session chaired by the Speaker as the N2.24 trillion budget passed second reading.

Legislators who discussed the budget praised Governor Sanwo-Olu for presenting an estimate that is feasible when certain criteria are taken into account. The budget has capital expenditures of N1.224 trillion and recurring expenditures of N1.023 trillion.

The budget, according to Hon. Sa’ad Olumoh, chairman of the Committee on Economic Planning, intends to address a number of problems brought on by the elimination of exchange rates and subsidies. He went on to say that waste should be kept to a minimum in the budget.

The Finance Committee’s chairman, Hon. Femi Saheed, stated that Lagos is moving away from depending on federal funding with this budget, while his colleague, Hon. Kehinde Joseph, suggested the budget should address the situation where certain government agencies are housed in rented buildings.

With this budget, Lagos is moving away from relying on federal funding, according to the chairman of the Finance Committee, Hon. Femi Saheed. On the other hand, his colleague, Hon. Kehinde Joseph, suggested the budget address the issue of some government agencies being housed in rented buildings.

Regarding the proposal, Hon. Sanni Okanlawon stated that it is a developmental budget since it intends to deal with ongoing projects such as the red and purple rail lines.

“The budget can be self-sustaining and realistic if the right thing is done according to what the Speaker said during the budget presentation,” Deputy Majority Leader Adedamola Richard Kasunmu stated in his contribution.

He went on to say that education and health should receive priority.

In order to better serve the public, Hon. Desmond Elliot advocated for an increase in the social protection budget, while Hon. Nureni Akinsanya suggested making it easier to apply for Certificates of Occupancy in order to increase government revenue.