Sanwo-Olu signs N873.5 budget, other bills into law

LAGOS State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has signed the state’s 2019 Appropriation Bill and three other bills into law.

The budget’s Capital Expenditure stands at N479.691 billion and the Recurrent Expenditure is N393.841 billion – a ratio of 55 to 45 per cent.

The signing of the Appropriation Bill ends many months of controversies between the executive and legislative arms. The budget size is N873.532 billion.

The immediate past governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, submitted N852.317 billion to the House of Assembly on February 5. The House on April 29 passed the bill after increasing it by N21.215 billion.

The approval came more than 80 days after Ambode presented the bill, following months of face-off between the executive and the legislature.

The other three bills the governor signed into law are: The Domestic Staff Service Provider Registration Law 2019; Lagos State House of Assembly Service Commission (Amended) Law 2019 and the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency Law.

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Speaking at the signing ceremony, which took place yesterday at the State House, Ikeja, Sanwo-Olu said it was an exciting day for Lagosians as the law would be implemented fully for their benefits.

Saying that he was aware that the year was far gone, the governor promised that his administration would deploy the state’s full machinery for the effective performance of the budget.

According to him, “the eight Assembly has been effective in their duties. I am aware that the year is far gone, but we will ensure that we quickly deploy all machinery of government in other to achieve full utilisation and performance of the budget.

“We will ensure that all the lines that you have laid will be fully adhered to, in other to ensure that the citizens enjoy the benefit of government. As observed, the budget is 55 to 45 per cent. If we are lucky and push on our revenue side, it is not unlikely that before the end of the year, we will not sit to look at the budget again.”