Rt. Hon. (Dr.) Mudashiru Obasa, Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly has committed Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s Y2020 Budget re-ordering proposal request to the Joint Committee on Economic Planning and Budget & Finance to review and report back to the House next week.
The proposal which was sent to the House in a letter addressed to the Clerk of the House; Mr. Azeez Sanni through the Auditor General from the Governor titled and dated, “Re-ordering of priorities under the Y2020 Budget” May 21st, 2020 is to necessitate the revision of Y2020 Budget crippled by the Covid-19 pandemic, three months into the year.
Mr. Governor while acknowledging the House on the approved budget of ₦20bn Covid-19 intervention fund called the attention of Mr. Speaker on the Y2020 Budget which was signed into Law on December 31st, 2019 never anticipating that three months into the year, the State would be confronted with a pandemic that brought both developing and developed nations under complete and total lockdown which crippled the economic activities on a global scale.
He further stated that the economic headwind generated by the Covid-19 pandemic has necessitated the need for a reconsideration of Y2020 Budget and some of the underlined assumptions which has changed drastically indicated that the key drivers of revenues had worsened during the course of the year.
He added in the proposal that the revenue had dropped 24% and contemporarily 21% will drop in expenditure, while the proposed revision is expected to reduce the total budget size from ₦1.685, 200trn to ₦920.469bn with the difference of ₦1.242, 48.093bn, and reduced apex by ₦202.172bn as well as reduce total overheads recurrent by ₦49795bn.
Mr. Governor therefore, solicited the House to consider the proposal for the revision of Y2020 budget with the Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Sam Egube available to make further clarification if needed prior to the consideration of the re-ordering request.
