Mr. Oladotun Olakanle, the chairman of Lagos State’s Onigbongbo Local Council Development Area, presented the legislative chamber with a proposed N3.24 billion budget for 2023 on Monday under the heading “Budget of Stabilization.”
Olakanle said the budget is in line with the T.H.E.M.E. agenda of the Lagos State Government, led by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in his remarks at the event.
According to Olakanle, who provided a breakdown of the planned budget, capital expenditures would use N1.16 billion, or 35.97 percent of the total.
He also said that N2.08 billion, or 64.03 percent, will go toward ongoing expenses.
The chairman claimed that the budget will support the work that his government had already begun when he took office.
He said: “As you are aware that the cardinal objectives remains the same which is promoting a liveable environment for all our people; residents, businesses and visitors to the area.
“Human capital development in its broad sense including staff welfare and maintaining and upgrading existing infrastructural facilities.
“Our focus is not only about bricks and mortar but we are equally concerned about alleviating poverty, supporting individuals to sustain their optimal potential and ensuring that they do so in a secure and clean environment.”
Olakanle claimed that while the authorised 2022 budget functioned admirably in many areas, his administration was unable to carry out all of its plans because of a lack of funding.
Due to a lack of funding, the chairman stated that some of the projects planned for completion in the 2022 budget will be carried over into the suggested 2023 budget.
Olakanle listed his accomplishments from the previous year, including the government’s purchase of a mommot trash compactor and the provision of medical outreach in each of the six wards.
He continued by saying that the council, among other things, provided students with GCE and Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination forms as well as scholarships.
In his remarks, the Speaker of the House, Mr. Kayode Opayemi, encouraged the chairman to cease using the councillors as pawns in a game of “divide and conquer.”
He said: “You cannot ask for our cooperation and be playing antics to this House in which you are seeking cooperation from.
Opayemi, on the other hand, thanked the chairman for promptly presenting the 2023 Appropriations Bill.
He also expressed his gratitude to his co-workers and to each department head on the council for making the presentation possible.
Opayemi encouraged the council’s six councillors to have a suitable legislative facility built.
He asserted that a legislative building is what is required and that this is not the proper location for the House to receive the budget.
The next budget presentation, he claimed, would not be held in this cramped space; rather, the House would like to have it in their own legislative chamber.
The chairman gave the councillors six automobiles and the department heads fourteen cars on low interest payments that would be deducted from their pay.
Traditional leaders, party chieftains, market women, and youth leaders were among the attendees for the budget presentation.
