Ogun shores up 2020 Budget with N75bn bond
Having received names of 18 commissioner- nominees for which Governor Dapo Abiodun submitted before Ogun State House of Aseembly on Thursday, Olakunle Oluomo-led State House of Assembly has declared intent to start screening on Monday as all the commissionernominees have been asked to appear before the House.
The 18 commissioner-nominees were also asked to come along with 30 copies each of their curriculum vitae and other relevant credentials including Evidence of Asset declaration with the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), which suggests that the commissioner-nominees may be sworn in immediately after the screening this week.
BDSUNDAY recalls that Governor Abiodun submitted 18 names of Ogun indigenes drawn from the three senatorial districts and nine federal constituencies at exactly 196 days after he assumed office as governor of the state.
Out of 18 names submitted before Kunle Oluomo-led State House of Assembly for consideration, Dapo Okubadejo, immediate past Partner/africa Leader, Deal Advisory and Private Equity at KPMG topped the list which gave a strong indication suggesting that the KPMG man might be appointed as Commissioner in charge of finance which would come in addition to being the Chief Economic Adviser to Governor Abiodun.
Some other commissionernominees who had already been constituted in Governor Abiodun’s cabinet are, Laolu Olabimtan, Consultant on Budget and Planning who may also retain the office as Commissioner for Budget and Planning; Jagunmolu Akande Omoniyi, Special Adviser on Housing can also be appointed as Commissioner for Housing while Prof. Sidi Osho, Special Adviser on Tertiary Education can be upgraded to man Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
Others that made the list as read during the plenary by Olakunle Oluomo, Speaker of the State House of Assembly, included Afolabi Afuape, former Commissioner for Youth and Sports; Ganiyu Hamzat, former
Ogun Central senatorial aspirant of All Progressives Congress ( APC); Funmi Efuape, former Chairman, Sagamu Local Government; Tunji Akinosi, former Commissioner for Agriculture and Abiodun Abudu-balogun, former member, House of Representatives.
The others are, Taiwo Oludotun, Dr Kehinde Oluwadare, Barrister Femi Ogunbanwo, Ade Adesanya, Adeola Odedina, Toyin Taiwo, Yomi Coker, Gbolahan Adediwura and Tunji Odunlami.
In a very short time, Dapo Okubadejo has played a very leading role in Governor Dapo Abiodun’s cabinet being the coordinator of the state’s economy with strong biases for finance, budget and economic planning, internally generated revenue, commerce and industry, agriculture and mining.
For instance, he is very instrumental to the establishment of Ogun State Investment Promotion Agency, formulation of Public- Private Partnership model of governance and a three- year Medium-term Expenditure Framework which projects robust growth for state’s gross domestic product ( GDP); effective control of inflation rate within the state and increases budgetary votes for capital projects.
Businessday reports that Medium-term Expenditure Framework is designed for a three-year economic and financial plan, projecting 2.4% gross domestic growth of N2.99 trillion for 2020; N3.06 trillion for 2021 and N3.14 trillion for 2022 respectively.
The State’s Medium-term Expenditure Framework also projects inflation rate at 10.2% for 2020; 8.49% for 2021 and 6.59% for 2022 respectively, just as the capital expenditure is retained at 60% benchmark for rapid socioeconomic growth, starting from 60% for 2020; 65% for 2021 and 70% for 2022.
In order to shore up deficit that may affect effective budget performance in the year 2020, Dapo Okubadejo had earlier declared that Ogun government would go to capital market to raise N75 billion bond to finance
N449.974 billion 2020 budget size budget, saying the proposed bond is part of financial buffers intended to fund the fiscal estimates with.
The breakdown of the budget presented N449.974 billion as budget proposal for the year 2020 which is tagged, “Budget to Build Our Future Together” by Governor Dapo Abiodun has a total of N269.132 billion as thecapital expenditure, representing 60.31% and a sum of N269.132 billion, representing 39.69% as the recurrent expenditure.
Businessday’s investigation shows that the N75 billion bond proposed to be raised at the Capital Market will form part of N129.566 billion, representing 28% covered under a finance source tagged, “other receipts”, having proposed budget finance sources which include internally generated revenue ( IGR) that stands at N255.946 billion, representing 57%; statutory allocation is N43.431 billion, representing 10%; expected revenue from VAT stands at N22.031 billion which represents 5%.
As part of effort to curb rural-urban migration which has become stock in trade in African countries due to acute poverty and underdevelopment staring people on the face in the rural areas, World Bank has picked 13 rural communities in Ogun State for its micro capital projects.
World Bank micro capital projects that will be undertaken in 13 rural communities picked across six local government areas in the state will centre on water supply and hygiene, health and education as well as roads construction that boost standard of living of rural dwellers.
Speaking on the World Bank’s micro capital projects in Abeokuta, the State capital on Friday, Sakirudeen Salaam, General Manager, Ogun State Community and Social Development, revealed that the World Bank chose the state for the micro capital projects after such projects had been presented for proper assessment and approval.
The general manager, who said that 26 micro projects had been penciled down for immediate implementation in 13 communities located in six local government areas of Ogun state, explained that the projects would provide quality social infrastructure and improve standard of living of the rural dwellers when completed.
Salaam noted that the micro projects centered on water supply, health, education and road construction, among others and the would be undertaken within World Bank focal areas, including Remo North, Abeokuta North, Odeda, Yewa North, Ado-odo-ota and Ipokia.
While descr i b i n g the achievement as a landmark for the agency, the general manager promised to ensure speedy implementation of the projects, just as he advised the benefitting communities and each Community Project Management Committee (CPMC) to work tirelessly and ensure successful completion of the projects at a record time. them to think like registered planners, who serve as ears and eyes of development and relate appropriately on issues springing up in the towns and communities across the State, assuring of government commitment to provide all that was required to function effectively.