From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has presented a budget proposal of N310billion to the state House of Assembly for the 2023 fiscal year.
The appropriation bill was tagged: ‘Budget of Sustainable Development’, which he described as an indication of moving the stage from accelerated development to sustainable development.
The capital expenditure received a total allocation of N154.348billion, representing 49.79 per cent of the total budget estimate. A total of N155.651billion, representing 27.65 percent of the budget proposal, was allocated to recurrent expenditure.
Makinde, in the budget estimate gave the lion share to infrastructure, which got N85.7billion, representing 27.65 per cent of the appropriation bill. The education sector received the second highest allocation of N58.2billion, representing 18.78 per cent, while the healthcare got N36.3billion, representing 11.73 per cent. The agricultural sector also received N11.1billion, representing 3.61 per cent.
On revenue generation to fund the budget, Makinde proposed N83.5billion Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), N50billion for statutory allocation, and N60billion for Value Added Tax (VAT) puts at N60billion, apart from other streams of income for the state.
The governor, however, explained that his administration allocated the highest fund to infrastructure with a view to achieving smooth transition of the state from accelerated development to sustainable development. He added that his administration has been make budgetary allocations to the education sector in line with the recommendation of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) of 15 to 20 per cent of the total budget estimate.
His words: “So far, we have achieved a revenue performance of 59.78 percent and an expenditure performance of 54.88 percent. Of course, we expect to go above the 60 percent mark at the close of the year.
“We believe that our people deserve good governance and that we must deliver good governance to them to the very end of our tenure.
“So, just as we did in 2020 and 2021, we held town hall meetings in all seven geopolitical zones to get the input of the good people of Oyo State into this budget. Again, we have a budget which reflects the wishes of our people.
“I have the honour of presenting the proposal of N310,000,000,000 for 2023 Budget of Sustainable Development.So, with this budget, we are moving from accelerated to sustainable development. Sustainable development means that we aim to meet the needs of the good people of Oyo State on this side of the transition without compromising the ability of the next administration to meet their own needs.”
In his remarks, the Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Adebo Ogundoyin,, who assured on timely passage of the 2023 appropriation bill, noted that the budgets in the state since Governor Makinde came on board in 2019 have always been “people and development centered. The 2023 appropriation, which is to the tune of N310billion is surely not going to be an exception.
“We can say without any fear of contradiction that the budget of the outgoing year 2022 recorded outstanding performances. Kudos to all stakeholders for ensuring the successful implementation and execution of the budget.
“The governor has again given us the breakdown of the 2023 budget and what to expect in the coming year. I like to assure us that on our part, we will again be aggressive in performing our duties in ensuring complete implementation and monitoring of the 2023 budget to achieve its set goals and desired results.”