Ogun Assembly Passes N449.97bn 2020 Appropriation Bill

Ogun state House of Assembly on Friday passed the 2020 budget proposal of N449.97bn presented to it by Governor Dapo Abiodun.

The passage of the bill marked HB. No. 032/OG/2019- Year 2020 Appropriation Law, at the plenary presided over by Speaker Olakunle Oluomo at the Assembly Complex, Abeokuta, followed the presentation of the report of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation led by Hon. Olakunle Sobukanla.

There was a bit adjustment in budget size in the capital expenditure with an increment of N2.1bn for capital projects.

The realignment moved the capital estimate from N269,132,349,884.46bn to N271,232,349,884.46bn.

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Hon. Sobukanla subsequently moved the motion for its adoption, seconded by Sylvester Abiodun and unanimously supported by all the lawmakers through a voice vote.

There were also adjustments in the recurrent expenses of six agencies, capital estimates of nineteen others and the revenue targets of seven agencies; resulting in the recurrent expenditure being slashed from N154.896bn to N152.796bn and subsequent reduction in the recurrent expenditure by N2.1bn.

The capital expenditure, therefore, witnessed an upward review from N269.132bn to N271.232bn with an increment of N2.1bn.

The Majority Leader, Yusuf Sheriff, moved the motion for the third reading, seconded by the Minority Leader, Ganiyu Oyedeji and the Acting Clerk of the Assembly, Deji Adeyemo did the third reading of the bill.

Earlier, Speaker Oluomo had read the Bill clause-by-clause before the lawmakers.

In passing the bill into law, Oluomo, who lauded his colleagues and staff of the Assembly for their dedication and support, which led to the timely passage of the bill, said the prompt passage of the Appropriation Bill was a Christmas cum new year gift to the people of the State and therefore directed that the clean copy of the bill be transmitted to the Governor for his assent.

It would be recalled that Governor Abiodun had on December 3, 2019 presented the budget proposal of N449.974 billion for the next fiscal year before the members of the State House of Assembly.

The budget christened “Budget to Build Our Future Together” has N269.132bn representing (60.31%) for capital projects, with N180.842bn (39.69%) set aside for recurrent expenditure, while salaries and allowances were put at N83.238bn, just as pension and gratuities would take N25.94bn, representing 18 percent of total expenditure with the balance of N71.659bn resulting in 16 percent of the total budget earmarked for overhead cost.

Meanwhile, Governor Dapo Abiodun has assured that his administration would perform better with the 2020 budget that had just been passed by the State House of Assembly, given what his government was able to achieve with the inherited budget of the immediate past administration in the State.

Abiodun gave the assurance during the Christmas Thanksgiving service at the Emmanuel Villa, Iperu- Remo, saying that his government would do a lot more once the budget was passed.

“We have done our bit in the last six months, operating with the budget we inherited. I believe that the House of Assembly will be passing our budget before the end of the year by the grace of God, meaning that we will be able to do much more because we have put together a budget that encapsulates our vision,” he said.

The Governor also reiterated his administration’s commitment to the provision of focused and qualitative governance, while creating an enabling environment for Public Private Sector Partnership, so as to be distinguished as inclusive, participatory, transparent and accountable.