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ADDRESS BY MR. BABAJIDE OLUSOLA SANWO-OLU,
GOVERNOR OF LAGOS STATE, AT THE PRESENTATION OF YEAR 2020 BUDGET PROPOSAL, TO THE LAGOS STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY ON NOVEMBER 8, 2019. BUDGET OF AWAKENING TO A GREATER
LAGOS
Protocol.
Let me on this momentous occasion of my first
appearance before you, Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly, start by congratulating all of you, new and returning members, on your well-deserved victory at the polls, and on your efforts and achievements over the last six months in office.
In the same vein, I must thank you all, once again,
for the cooperation we have received and enjoyed
since we came to office. You handled the screening
of nominees into the Lagos State Executive Council
with promptness and seriousness; followed by the
commitment you showed when we requested a
reordering of the 2019 Budget, to better align with
our development agenda. It is our candid prayer
that this cordial and productive relationship will
continue to be the norm throughout our tenure.
Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members, in my
Inauguration Speech on May 29, 2019, I declared
to the good people of Lagos State: “While Lagos
glimmers as a beacon of progressive and
quality governance, our nation now undergoes a historic battle to establish progressive and just governance. Lagos must again rise and help lead this nation to fuller progress and to a closer realization of the greatness that exists within all Nigerians. This inauguration symbolizes such an awakening.”
This quote sets the tone for my presentation to you
today, and by extension captures the essence of
the 2020 Lagos State Budget.
We all came into office with a clear and indisputable
mandate to govern our people diligently and
conscientiously; to serve them to the best of our
ability.
We were elected on the basis of a robust six-pillar
development agenda; PROJECT T.H.E.M.E.S.,
which sets out in a concise manner, the priorities of
our great party and our administration. Traffic
Management & Transportation, Health &
Environment, Education & Technology, Making
Lagos a 21st Century Economy, Entertainment &
Tourism and Security & Good Governance.
On this note, Mr. Speaker and Honourable
Members,
I have the privilege to stand before you to present the 2020 Budget Proposal, which we have christened, “The Budget of Awakening”. This is a momentous occasion, enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The preparation, presentation and consideration of an annual Budget by the Executive and Legislature respectively rank among the most important and impactful functions of democratic governance. So, by this, we are acting within the ambit of the Constitution and the laws of our land.
Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members, our
national economy, having recovered from
recession, is gradually picking up, and has recorded
nine consecutive quarters of growth. However, at
about 2 percent GDP growth, the recovery is still
fragile. Lagos, like other states, is not immune to
the issues faced nationally, and even globally.
Global economic factors like the drop in crude oil price and environmental challenges like rising sea
levels, affect the State and its economy.
As one of the fastest growing cities in the world,
hosting 10% of the country’s population on less
than 0.4% of the entire land mass, Lagos indeed
has its own special set of challenges such as
unemployment, infrastructural deficit, climate change, and high levels of unchecked rural-urban migration.
On a more optimistic note, the size of our economy
and the scale of entrepreneurial resourcefulness
have also traditionally commanded continental and
global attention. Indeed, as of 2018, according to
available data, Lagos ranked as the 7th largest economy in Africa; and larger than the national economies of Ghana and Kenya. Just last month, Lagos was acknowledged by the World Bank for its significant contribution to Nigeria’s impressive performance in the World Bank Doing Business Index.
I am confident that with the creativity, ingenuity and
resilience of our people, and the determination of
this administration, our aspirations for a Greater
Lagos – a prosperous, safe and secure Lagos – are
very much on course.
Mr. Speaker, and Honorable Members of the Lagos
State House of Assembly, the objectives of our
2020 budget proposal include:
Attract private sector investments to the State
economy by creating an enabling environment;
Aggressively develop, upgrade and maintain
our Infrastructure;
Invest in human capital development, i.e.
education and healthcare;
Facilitate sustainable social investment and
enterprise;
Improve capacity to collect due revenues as
efficiently as possible;
Improve civic participation in governance, and automate public services and engagement;
Build Impactful partnerships with the Federal Government, other States, development partners and civil society; and
Improve the quality of the environment and our
Public spaces generally.
REVIEW OF YEAR 2019 BUDGET
PERFORMANCE
Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members of this Hallowed Chamber, as you are all aware, the Year 2019 Budget proposal was prepared and presented before you for consideration and subsequent approval before this administration came on board.
One of my first tasks when I assumed office as
Governor was to sign the 2019 Appropriation Bill
into law on June 3, 2019. In the five months since the Budget becamem effective, our administration has commissioned several projects in line with our THEMES agenda, including but not limited to the following:
We completed and opened the Maternal and Child
Care Centers (MCC) in Eti-Osa and Alimosho
LGAs, completed and commissioned 492 housing
units at the Lateef Jakande Estate in Igando; and
we donated security vehicles and equipment to our security operatives.
We also launched the Blue Box waste recycling
Program, to bring waste management in Lagos
State into the 21st century, and kick-start a positive
transformation of citizen behavior.
Several other projects are nearing completion,
including 31 roads in Ojokoro/Ijaiye/Ifako Local
Government Area, a High Court and Magistrates
Court complex in Eti-Osa Local Government Area,
and a Police Command Complex in Ojo Local
Government Area.
Working with you, Honourable members of this
esteemed House, we achieved the re-ordering of
the budget. This includes a plan to increase
borrowing by way of internal loans and bond issuance, totaling N250billion, to address critical
infrastructure needs, including the following:
a. Public School Infrastructure Rehabilitation
Program, which will transform 300 public schools
across the State.
b. Road Infrastructure Projects: Lagos – Badagry
Expressway; Agege – Pen Cinema Overhead
Bridge; Agric – Isawo Road; Bola Ahmed Tinubu;
Ikoyi-Victoria Island CBD reconstruction projects
– Igbogbo Road, and our Zero Tolerance for
Potholes program.
c..Rail/Civil infrastructure works;
d. Construction and completion of MCCs in
Badagry, Epe and Ojo;
e. Desilting of major drain systems across the
State; and construction of new ones;
f. Provision of Security and Emergency
Equipment.
Despite these loans, our sustainability ratio of total
debt service to total revenue remains good at 29%
and we still intend to achieve a capital to recurrent expense ratio of 55:45 by the end of 2019. Let me also state that we are committed to ensuring that all new borrowing is done under the most responsible fiscal terms possible.
Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members, permit me to inform you that as at September 2019, overall
budget performance stood at 69%. Total revenue
was ₦468.576 billion representing 78% of our target performance.
As at September 2019, Capital Expenditure stood
at ₦217.763 billion, representing 61% performance, while Recurrent Expenditure performance came in
at 79%.
While these outcomes are generally below our
expectation, we have taken steps through our
reordering exercise, graciously approved by this
House, to redirect the budget for a significantly
improved performance by the end of 2019.
YEAR 2020 BUDGET
Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members of the House, I will now move to the highlights of the 2020 Budget, which is fully consistent with our THEMES agenda, and gives priority to the completion of ongoing projects. The Proposed Budget Size for Year 2020 is 1.168 trillion naira; to be funded by a projected Total Revenue of 1.071 Trillion Naira, and a deficit amounting to 97.53 Billion Naira. This budget sizenis higher than the 2019 budget by 34%.
Capital expenditure amounts to 723.75 Billion Naira
while the Recurrent Expenditure is 444.81 Billion
Naira giving a 62:38 capital to recurrent ratio. This,
in our view, is strong for development. We have
placed an increased focus on wealth creation where
we will take deliberate steps in courting a partnership between our people and various development institutions. In line with this, we have
provided N11.8bn as counterpart funds in
preparation for various social impact schemes. In
addition, we have made provisions for N7.1bn this
year, to provide for industrial hubs, parks, graduate
internship programs and virtual markets for
artisans. This is in support for Micro, Small and
Medium enterprises which are the engines for both
economic and employment growth.
It is equally proposed that a total of 167.81 Billion
Naira of the Recurrent Expenditure shall be applied
towards personnel costs and other staff-related
expenses. This represents 22.02% of the proposed
Total Revenue, which is within the acceptable wage
policy of 25% of Total Revenue, and includes a
provision for the new minimum wage. The budget deficit of 97.53 Billion Naira will be financed by both internal and external loans.
Since revenue generation is the spine of any budget, this budget supports investment in our revenue generating agencies.
As mentioned earlier, Mr. Speaker, this budget
seeks to aggressively invest in and develop our
education, health and other physical infrastructure
sectors. Although our capital spend on works and infrastructure was just 31 Billion Naira as at September 2019, as against the 2019 budget proposal of 78 Billion Naira, it is our intention to spend 115 Billion Naira in 2020.
Education will see a significantly increased capital budgetary allocation of 48 Billion Naira, an increase of 60% over the 2019 provision of 30 Billion Naira.
We must improve the standard and relevance of our education outcomes to our industries. We will work together with our Local governments to strengthen early child education and teachers training/administration, leveraging technology.
Similarly, in healthcare, we have provided for a
capital expenditure of 33 Billion Naira, compared to
the 2019 budget proposal of 21 Billion Naira.
We will ensure that our primary health care
institutions remain active and attractive to the
primary health care needs of our people. Lagos
belongs to us all; we will continue therefore to drive
partnerships with the private sector in promoting
health services within our institutions. Given the perennial challenges of flooding in the metropolis, we have tripled the capital budget provision to tackle this from 3 Billion Naira in 2019 to 9 Billion Naira in 2020.
Permit me at this point to highlight some unique
things about this budget proposal.
First, in putting it together, we held consultations
across the three senatorial districts, in addition to
taking memoranda and feedback from
stakeholders’ meetings organized by Honorable
Members of the House within their constituencies,
which were also attended by Cabinet members.
It is indeed true that when Lagos speaks, this
administration listens. Secondly, this 2020 Budget will be supported by a Performance Management System that will ensure that, by December 2020, we shall achieve an optimal budget implementation when compared with previous years. This is in line with our commitment to transparency and accountability in the management of public finances.
Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members of the House, as highlighted earlier, our dear Lagos faces an existential threat, arising from the interplay of demographic and climate change. Lagos is and will continue to be a magnet for multitudes within and outside Nigeria, in search of jobs and economic prosperity.
These levels of migration put phenomenal strain
on the physical and fiscal resources of the state.
The choice before us is simple – we can either allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by the challenges, or boldly confront them. I am energized because, all through the course of history, communities have faced existential threats at some point or the other.
And what has made the difference time and again is an acknowledgement of the threats, and the ollective will-power to take decisive action, however seemingly difficult it may be in the shortterm. It is therefore time to imagine a new Lagos – A “Greater Lagos”. It is time to create and realize new and audacious dreams, targets and goals.
We have seen societies transform, within the
course of two generations, from being trapped in
a cycle of wars, mindless plunder, high rates of
poverty, illiteracy, and crime, into livable, highperforming and world-dominating economies. Lagos will do it too.
But like all great things, this will come at a cost.
We have to make sacrifices for it. We have to
reinvent and rethink Lagos. With our very small land mass and very denseopulation, we have to rethink land use. We have to rethink inter-communal relationships. We have to rethink infrastructural development. We have to rethink our transport systems.
We have to rethink our well-being. We have to move from glib statements about Lagos as a center of excellence. Lagos has to be truly excellent in something. Something positive, remarkable and admirable. In other words, a Greater Lagos.
It is on this plank that the “2020 Budget of
Awakening to a Greater Lagos” is premised and
I hereby present it for your kind consideration and
approval.
Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu
Governor, Lagos State
Friday 8th November, 2019
