Lukman Olabiyi
Lagos State Government has announced that it was able to achieve 81 per cent of the projected internally generated revenue for the first half of 2020, despite the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on economic activities around the world.
Lagos State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mr. Sam Egube, said this at the 2019/2020 Annual Press Conference Week Lecture of the Lagos State Governor’s Office Correspondents (LAGOCO), with the theme, “Rethinking Lagos for the Post-COVID-19 Era.”
Egube, the guest speaker at the event, was represented by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Economic Matters, Mr. Lekan Balogun. He said the 81 per cent performance of the projected revenue for the period under review was at N432.6 billion.
The commissioner, who said, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the state government has been able to re-strategise to conform to the demands of the present realities, stressed that a good government is one which has the ability to respond when disturbances arise.
“Lagos State economy remains the largest and arguably the fastest growing economy in Nigeria. The state’s economy was projected to grow at 4 per cent prior to COVID-19. However, COVID-19 has affected the possibilities of achieving such prosperous target.
“Having looked at the half of the year budget performance, it showed that despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic the total revenue recorded in performance is at 81 per cent of our initial target,” he said.
He noted that while the state’s economy was projected to record a 4 per cent growth, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought in strains that demanded a contraction in the state’s budget by 21 per cent in response to constriction of economic activities.
According to him, the review of the budget was among others necessitated by lower GDP growth, decline in demand for goods and services, and shortfall in revenue generation. Egube said the the review in the state’s budgetary plan was effected to maintain a strong response to the effects of the pandemic on food, ensure job creation, economic stability and economic reforms for ease-of-doing business.
He said the experience of the lockdown brought the state government to the reality of the shortcomings in the state’s food storage system, which necessitated the increase of the allocation to agriculture to N2.8 billion.
Egube, who stated there was need for parsimony in government spending, stressed that with the experience of the COVID-19 the state government has introduced a stabilisation fund at 1 per cent of the yearly IGR to provide support during emergencies.
In his remarks, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, said despite the COVID-19 crisis “governance never stopped.”
He said as soon as the lockdown was eased, the piloting of the state commenced, which has led to the inauguration of a number of projects, while those undergoing execution are set for completion.
Among the projects that he said had been completed were the rolling out of new buses for ease of transportation, launching new boats and channel routes for waterways; new health facilities and housing schemes, among others.
In his goodwill message, the chief press secretary to the governor, Mr. Gboyega Akosile, appreciated the members of the governor’s press corps for the support given to Sanwo-Olu’s administration in terms of publicity of government programmes.
While urging the journalists to continue in that regard, Akosile assured Lagosians that the governor would continue to deliver on his campaign promises.
In his address, Lagos State chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Dr. Qasim Akinreti, praised the governor for showing exemplary leadership despite challenges: “Lagos has excelled very well to redefine the way we do things. It is on record that when COVID-19 came, the governor stood up to be counted and responded appropriately. Lagos has become a reference point, and other governors have come to borrow a leaf from Lagos State.”