Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has presented the 2022 Appropriation Bill to the state House of Assembly.
The Governor proposed a budget estimate of N1.388trn, tagged, ‘Budget of Consolidation. to the state lawmakers Wednesday’
Sanwo-Olu, during his presentation of the proposed budget, noted that the huge capital expenditure in the 2022 fiscal year was to consolidate the recovery effort of the state’s economic activities, commerce and investment.
He said, “Year 2022 budget is the next step on our journey to true and sustainable greatness in Lagos. The challenging environment requires that we focus our interventions on areas of greatest social impact and achieving the greatest good for the greatest number in the shortest possible time.
“Next year is an excellent opportunity for us to consolidate on what we have done so far, and ensure that every effort, investment inflow, partnership, business policy is translating maximally into noticeable positive impact in the lives of our people.
“It is in this light that we are presenting the Year 2022 Budget of Consolidation with a size of N1, 388, 285, 459, 990.51.This financial proposal is presented with a sense of duty and absolute commitment to the transformation of Lagos to a preferred global destination for residence, commerce, and investment.
“The budget projects to see a continuing but gradual recovery to growth in economic activity as the global economy cautiously recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The Governor earmarked about N823.4bn, which represents 59 per cent of the 2022 budge for capital expenditure, while N565bn representing 41 per cent of the budget was earmarked as recurrent expenditure, which includes personnel cost, overhead and debt services.
The Lagos State Governor intends to improve on human capital development as proposes an allocation of 21.24 per cent combined in the total expenditure to education and health.
The Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, urged the state executive to prioritize alleviation of poverty.
“While the projections of this administration are being guided by its THEMES agenda, we need to further strengthen it to touch the lives of the people. It is a known fact that Lagos has the highest foreign debt profile.
“This loan has been the secret behind most of the infrastructural developments we all see all over the state. Nevertheless, I will advise the executive to focus more on intense projects that will be geared towards alleviating poverty in our state,” he said.
