Ondo State’s Acting Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, submitted a N384.533 billion budget proposal to the State House of Assembly on Thursday evening.
During a plenary session presided over by the Speaker, Olamide Oladiji, Aiyedatiwa presented the “Budget of Economic Resilience” to lawmakers in the Assembly’s hallowed chamber.
The acting governor budgeted N212,014 billion for capital expenditure and N172,518 billion for recurrent spending, with infrastructure receiving the lion’s share of N95,482,176 billion.
While emphasizing that the 2024 budget proposal is greater than the total projected budget outlay for the 2023 fiscal year, which was N275,979 billion, he revealed that the budget for the current fiscal year was revised upward to N313,144 billion due to the country’s economic situation, which was triggered by the removal of fuel subsidies.
He also stated that the 2024 budget proposal, which was prepared based on the projection of the 2024–2026 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), as required by the Ondo State Fiscal Responsibility Law of 2017, will focus on investment in human capital development as well as revenue collection rejigging.
Aiyedatiwa, who prayed for his boss’s rapid recovery, thanked the Speaker and other Assembly members for their assistance to the government.
The acting governor, who also thanked the people of the state for their unwavering belief, confidence, and cooperation, informed lawmakers that the administration will pursue a policy stance that will entrench and enable excellent service delivery in order to fulfill the aims and objectives of the 2024 budget proposal.
“In continuation and consolidation of our citizens’ engagement drive, which we initiated in 2018, stakeholders’ consultative meetings with civil society groups, the private sector, youths, women, and vulnerable groups, and our traditional rulers across the 18 local government areas were held, and their inputs were harvested into the 2024 budget being presented today,” he said.
Speaker Oladiji, who told the assembly that the motion would be given due consideration, praised the administration for what he characterized as the state’s undivided commitment to every area of the economy.
