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Fashola Signs Appropriation Amendment Law 2009
…Restates Commitment to optimum budget implementation

Sep 14, 2009 - Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Monday signed the Appropriation Amendment law of 2009 declaring that the State Government will continue to strive towards full implementation of its budget for the benefit of the populace.

According to Governor Babatunde Fashola who spoke at the Conference room of the Lagos House, Ikeja, the Government will never be a prisoner to any law as all laws are made for man.

He revealed that it has been a policy of the State Government to engage in a budget review on a quarterly basis, adding that the need to realign the 2009 budget was consequent upon the second quarter budget review of the 2009 Appropriation undertaken by the administration.

The Governor added that the State Government was able to arrive at the realignment position due to repeated monitoring, critical examination and diligent application of the budgetary process.

Findings, Governor Fashola said, has shown that some ministries, parastatals and agencies have gradually increased in capacity for efficient service delivery while in some, many projects are a lot more complex, requiring more time and study to implement.

He added that some projects still require more time and study to implement while in some instances there are still more tests to be done in some places and therefore the budgetary appropriation may not be fully utilized.

Governor Fashola explained that instead of returning unspent votes to the treasury, the present administration is determined to utilize and implement as much as it can do based on what it can earn.

The Governor also said: “We have changed the paradigm of not only budgeting but that of budget implementation in the last 24 months by consistently delivering a budget performance of over 70 percent which is the highest in any part of this country or the Continent for a long time”.

The Lagos State helmsman added that this has been possible through the creativity of the men in the State House of Assembly, the Executive Council and at the level of Permanent Secretaries and the members of the public service who are committed to a faithful implementation of the budget to the benefit of Lagosians.

He said at the start of the year, the price of diesel which is a major component in overhead in construction and delivery was N85 per litre, and has now risen to about N110 per litre, adding that: “To say we will not touch the budget is to ask for failure and disaster”.

He enlightened critics who disagree with every Government policy and action to note that budget is only a statement of intention based on estimates predicated on a reasonable forecast by the capacity of the human mind.

He said the public signing ceremony is consistent with the promise of the administration to always sign all laws in public inclusive of amendments.

Speaking earlier, the Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr Ben Akabueze said in the new law, the state will move N11Billion from overhead cost to capital expenditure.

He added that the realignment reflects the emphasis on capital expenditure by the government for long term growth which is good for the economy of the state.

Mr Akabueze said the present administration will continue to reallocate and realign some of the provisions made in the original Bill of 2009 Appropriation in order to ensure better service delivery.

He explained that this has been necessitated by the fact that the administration is recording the highest budget performance nationwide coupled with a capacity to implement the budget, which is why it has taken another look at the 2009 budget provision.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the House of Assembly Committee on Appropriation, Hon Kolapo Osunsanya said the committee worked assiduously on the amendment propositions by the executive arm, believing that it would be very useful to all the residents of Lagos.

Prominent among those who witnessed the ceremony were the majority leader of the State House of Assembly, Hon Kolawole Taiwo and members of the State Executive Council.

The new law provides for an amendment of the 2009 Appropriation Law by re-ordering Nine Billion Naira (N9,000,000,000,000) from specific sub-heads of the overhead and Twelve Billion, Eight Hundred Million Naira (N12,800,000,000) from specific subheads of the Capital expenditure and Two Billion Naira (N2,000,000,000,000) from the personnel cost of the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service, totaling Twenty Three Billion, Eight Hundred Million Naira Only.

It will also augment same to other specific sub-heads of the Capital Expenditure and Overhead cost, such that the revised recurrent expenditure would be One Hundred and Fifty Billion, Four Hundred and Sixty Four Million, Two Hundred and Seventeen Thousand , Two Hundred and Five Naira (N150,464,217,205.00) and the revised Capital expenditure would be Two Hundred and Fifty Four Billion, Five Hundred and Thirty Six Million Naira Only(N254,536,000,000.00) while the budget size remains at Four Hundred and Five Billion Naira only (N405,000,000,000.00).