The Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi
Ambode, on Monday said the 2016 budget was the article of faith of his
administration with Lagosians and was in line with delivering on the
promises he made to the people.
The governor, who spoke during a
ceremony at the Lagos House, Ikeja, to mark the signing of the
N662.588bn 2016 Appropriation Bill into law, promised that the budget
would be faithfully implemented to make Lagos work for all, irrespective
of age, gender, tribe or status.
He said, “The 2016 budget of N662.588bn
will enable our government to focus on security, gridlock resolution,
including physical and social infrastructural developments, which have
thrown up new challenges.”
The governor commended the House of
Assembly for ensuring quick passage of the bill which he presented to
the House on December 17, saying it was no mean feat.
He noted that the falling crude oil
prices had sprung up economic challenges and affected federal
allocations, adding that the state’s budget would be driven by
Internally Generated Revenue.
Giving a breakdown of the budget, the
Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Akinyemi Ashade, said
it would promote massive investments in security, traffic management,
in addition to enhancing job creation.
He said the 2016 budget was 26 per cent
higher than the budgets of 2014 and 2015 respectively, with estimated
total revenue of N542.873bn with the balance of N119.714bn expected to
be funded through a combination of internal and external loans,
including the World Bank DPO 3 loan which could not be accessed in 2015.
He said the Lagos Internal Revenue Service was expected to generate N300bn or 78 per cent of the total IGR.
He added that while the state government
would not introduce new taxes, efforts would be made towards bringing
more citizens into the tax net, especially the informal sector, as well
as through the adoption of an automated process to block leakages.
Ashade said the government had concluded plans to install 10,000 Close Circuit Television across the state.
The commissioner added that the government would also activate the 1,000 existing CCTV in the state.
He said, “We will be expanding our ICT
infrastructure statewide. Consequently, a budget of N9.6bn has been
approved for this purpose in 2016. This will include Smart City project
targeted at deploying technology to enhance security in the state. It
will also aid our revenue generating efforts.
“We will be increasing coverage of CCTV
installations in the state. Our goal is to have over 10,000 active
cameras. The existing 1,000 CCTV cameras will be reactivated and these
will be increased by additional 3,000 cameras after the completion of
the first phase of this project.”
He added that attention would be given
to improving disaster management, purchase of firefighting equipment,
occupational, public safety and construction of new fire stations and
relief camps across the state.
Ashade said the Geographic Information Systems and business solutions would be given special attention in the year 2016.
CREDIT:PUNCH NG
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