TheCable

Ibikunle Amosun, governor of Ogun state, on Tuesday presented to the state house of assembly a budget of N210.354 billion for the 2015 financial year.

The 2015 budget proposal of N210.354bn was slightly higher than the 2014 approved budget of N210.28bn.

Noting that falling oil prices affected the performance of the 2014 budget, Amosun said that the state would fund its budget by innovatively growing its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), which is currently between N5bn and N6bn monthly.

“The rationale for this is that the macro-economic outlook driven by the global oil prices suggests a contraction in the national economy.  I have always maintained that Ogun State is not immune to the wider economy.  However I am confident that we will be able to maintain our budget size by innovatively growing our Internally Generated Revenue,” he said.

The governor thanked the legislative and judicial arms for their support and cooperation which facilitated the achievements recorded by his administration.

“We have strived within the available resources to lay a solid foundation for our future development. We have worked hard to address the huge infrastructure deficit.  We have also improved the security situation in the state and have restored our people’s confidence in government,” he said.

Amosun added that the focus of the 2015 budget, which is tagged “budget of continuity”, was successful completion of on-going projects, maintenance of the already completed ones and exploring other initiatives towards the progress of the state.

“We remain resolutely committed to improving the socio-economic wellbeing of our people and taking the state to an enviable pedestal,” he said.

“To achieve an all-round development, we intend to undertake a review of our programmes and strategies and re-order our priorities in line with the emerging realities, without losing focus of the overall objectives. In anticipation of this, it is necessary that all the achievements of our administration are firmed up.”

The plenary session where the governor presented the budget was presided over by Suraj Adekunbi, speaker of the house, with all 26 members in attendance.