Lagos Speaker Obasa Commits 2024 Budget Proposal To Joint Committees

The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, has committed the 2024 Appropriation Bill presented last Wednesday by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to a Joint committee of the House for proper scrutiny.

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 speaker made this known in a statement issued on Monday by his spokesman, Eromosele Ebhomele.

Naija News reports the commitment of the budget proposal comes as the N2.24 trillion budget scaled second reading at a plenary presided over by the Speaker.

The budget has a Capital Expenditure of N1.224 trillion and a Recurrent Expenditure of N1.023 trillion and lawmakers, who spoke about it applauded Governor Sanwo-Olu for presenting an estimate that is workable if some parameters are considered.

The chairman of the Committee on Economic Planning, Sa’ad Olumoh, said the budget aims to address various issues resulting from the removal of subsidy and exchange rate, adding that the budget should be made to minimise waste.

The Finance Committee Committee, Femi Sahee, said with the budget, Lagos is 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 it aims to address ongoing projects like the red and purple rail lines.

In his contribution, the Deputy Majority Leader, Adedamola Richard 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.”

He added that focus should be given to health and education.

Also speaking, Hon. Desmond Elliot called for an improvement in the budget for social protection so as to effectively reach the people while Hon. Nureni Akinsanya said applications for Certificates of Occupancy can be made lighter for the government to make more money.