The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, on Monday, committed the 2024 Appropriation Bill presented last Wednesday by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to a joint committee of the House for proper scrutiny.
The N2.2tn budget, comprising N1.224tn capital expenditure and N1.023tn recurrent expenditure, scaled second reading at the plenary which was presided over by the Speaker.
Obasa urged the joint committee on Economic Planning and Finance to ensure it works hard enough to produce a well-scrutinised budget in three weeks for the benefit of the people of Lagos State.
The Chairman of the Committee on Economic Planning, Sa’ad Olumoh, said the budget would address various issues resulting from the removal of fuel subsidy and exchange rate crisis. He added that the budget should be made to minimise waste.
Femi Saheed, who heads the House Finance Committee, said with the budget, Lagos was moving away from relying on federal allocations, while his colleague, Kehinde Joseph, said the budget should address situations where some agencies of government exist in rented buildings.
On his part, Sanni Okanlawon described the proposal as a developmental budget because, according to him, it aims to address ongoing projects like the Red and the Purple Lines rail system.
In his contribution, the Deputy Majority Leader, Adedamola Kasunmu, said, “The budget can be self-sustaining and realistic if the right thing is done according to what the Speaker said during the budget presentation.”
Desmond Elliot called for an improvement in the budget for social protection so as to effectively reach the people, while Nureni Akinsanya said applications for Certificates of Occupancy can be made easier for the government to make more money.
