Oyo State government has devoted 49.8 percent, the largest chunk of the N310 billion budget for 2023 to capital projects, ramping up efforts to engineer a modern state beyond the year.
Governor Seyi Makinde, on Thursday, presented the 2023 fiscal policy christened Budget of Sustainable Development to the state legislature, declaring that his administration remains determined to deliver good governance to the people of the state till the end of the tenure.
Dedicating N154.34 billion to projects and leaving the balance of N155.65 billion or 50.23 percent to current shows the administration prioritises the critical foundation required for the state’s economic growth.
This budget proposal is premised on a proposed IGR of N83. 504 billion federal allocations of N50 billion and VAT allocation N60 billion in addition to other also have other revenue streams.
A breakdown of the 2023 fiscal plan shows N85,737,487,258.97 (27.65 percent) is proposed for infrastructure development, while Education sector, is allocated N58,213,981,267.87 (18.78 percent),
The Healthcare sector gets N36,358,058,808 or 11.73 percent while N11,198,004, 937.00 or 3.61 percent goes to the agriculture sector.
The governor said the budget will accelerate sustainable development that will enable the state to meet the needs of the good people without compromising the ability of the next administration.
“We have continued to use the tenets of the Federation’s Fiscal Sustainability Plan (FSP) as a guide in preparing our budget.
“For this budget, we have continued to prioritise the four pillars of our Roadmap to Accelerated Development in Oyo State 2019-2023.
“We believe that this Budget of Sustainable Development is just what we need as we navigate the final days of our first tenure in office.”, Makinde noted.
Explaining how the administration has been able to reduce poverty, the governor said the government was able to complete 56 model schools and construct/renovate over 700 classroom blocks across Oyo State, among other projects.
Governor Makinde added that the state has also succeeded in growing its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) by over 90 percent through partnerships with the private sector and development agencies, noting that the state has gone from a monthly IGR of about N1.7 Billion in 2018 to a monthly average of about N3.3 Billion and N5.1 Billion with special items in 2022.
The governor equally said that the government was able to expand the economy of Oyo State over the last three budgets, as it chose to focus on the state’s comparative advantage in agribusiness, stating that the state attracted private investments to the tune of over N26 Billion and 125 Million Dollars in development partners’ blended funds.
“Our pilot Agribusiness Industrial Hub at Fasola, Oyo West Local Government Area, is nearing completion. At the same time, we just signed a thirty-seven million dollars (37,000,000) investment in developing a Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) with the support of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Akinyele Local Government Area. We have 30 percent of the budget for that project included in this 2023 budget proposal.
“We also concentrated on reducing our infrastructural deficit. Infrastructure has received the highest chunk of our budgetary allocation for the past three years. Today, we can say with pride that our dear state is interconnected through road construction and rehabilitation.
“From Ibadan to Iseyin through the 65km Moniya-Ijaiye-Iseyin Road; from Oyo to Iseyin through the 34.85km Oyo-Iseyin Road; From Iseyin to Ogbomoso through the 76.67km Iseyin-Fapote-Ogbomoso Road and from Ibadan to Eruwa through the soon to be flagged-off 58km Omi Adio-Ido- Eruwa Road. We have also started the construction of the bridges and interchanges on the 32km East-Wing of the Ibadan Circular Road.
“We have delivered two of the proposed four bus terminals in Ibadan at Challenge and Ojoo. We have delivered the main bowl of the Lekan Salami Sports Complex, Adamasinbga. And I am delighted to report that for the first time in 28 years, we brought back international football to Ibadan when the Olympic Eagles played against Tanzania last Saturday. Of course, our Nigerian team made it more historic by winning two-zero against their opponents.
“Also, as promised in our 2019 budget presentation, we are well on our way to having one Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) per ward in Oyo State. As of the last count, 206 PHCs have been completely renovated, and we have already started equipping them.
“Secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities were not left out. So far, we have renovated and upgraded six secondary healthcare facilities at Tede, Ibadan, Saki, and Igbo-Ora, giving more of our people access to quality healthcare. I must mention the Renal Dialysis Centre at Ring Road State Hospital, Adeoyo, which can cater to nine patients simultaneously, and the soon-to-be-completed eye centre at Ogbomoso.
“The intervention at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital (LAUTECH TH) includes the installation of a High Dependency Unit and other facilities.
“We also carried out several free health missions across the state. So far, we have reached over one million, three hundred thousand (1,300,000) of our people who are underserved with free medications, surgeries, eyeglasses, cataract extractions, and dental care. These health missions have been a major highlight of the year for our people, especially in the rural areas as they eagerly look forward to it.
Noting that the security architecture of the State is wearing a new look, while farmers are returning to their farms and increasing productivity.
“In the past three years, our farmers have increased the farm sizes for the top five crops in Oyo State by over 95,000 hectare”, he said.
“We operationalised the Oyo State arm of the Western Nigeria Security Network codenamed Amotekun with 1,500 personnel. We are presently increasing that number by 500. We gave them operational vehicles – just recently, we handed an additional 100 vehicles in one go to them – and procured other necessary equipment for their use, including firearms, bulletproof vests, and communication equipment.
“We continued working with the Nigeria Police, Oyo State Command to secure our people. We have supported them with operational vehicles, communication gadgets, and welfare packages.
He also said that 253 kilometres of the road have been covered under the ‘Light-up Oyo’ project, which he noted has led to about a 25 percent drop in the crime rate in Oyo State in the last three years.
Comments are closed.