The Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, has given his assent to the state’s ₦268 billion 2021 budget. He noted that the budget will consolidate his administration’s infrastructure initiatives.
At the budget signing which took place at the Government House in Ibadan on Monday , the governor stated that the real implementation of the budget would begin in earnest, as the state targets at least 70 percent execution.
“Today, we are signing into law our Budget of Continued Consolidation. This completes the first phase of the process for the 2021 fiscal year budgeting. After this signing, the real work of implementation begins,” he said.
“First, we got the good people of Oyo State involved in the budgeting process through the town hall meetings, then we prepared the budget and passed it on-to the state’s House of Assembly for approval.
Makinde lauded the efforts of the state legislators for the prompt passage of the 2021 appropriation bill, he acknowledged the collaboration among all arms of government in the state.
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He denied rumours of budget padding leveled against the lawmakers and that the executive rejected it and forced a revision.
Speaking further, Governor Makinde said the 2020 budget fell short of the 70 percent target but recorded a performance that was a little above average at 50.32 percent due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic meltdown occasioned by the fall in oil prices.
He pledged that the state government would “work harder and smarter next year to ensure that we meet our performance target of at least 70 percent.”
“We met a lot of our goals because we used the Alternative Project Funding Approach (APFA), and the Contractor’s Project Financing Scheme to finance many projects.
“We also made use of targeted loans for project financing. Of course, the reward for hard work is more work. So, for the 2021 fiscal year, we will continue to be innovative and creative in our approach to financing,” he added.
