By Debo Adewale
The Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu has signed into law, the 2019 appropriation bill passed by the State House of Assembly.
The governor signed the N873.5 billion budget alongside three other bills comprising: Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency, Amended Act of the Lagos State House of Assembly Commission and Domestic Staff Service Providers’ bill.
Starnews reports that until the budget was signed on Monday by Gov. Sanwo-Olu, it remained a subject of controversy between the State Executive and Legislature.
Immediate past Governor Akinwunmi Ambode submitted the budget proposal in December 2018 but its delayed passage was to later lead to animosity between the two arms of government and the threat by the lawmakers to impeach the Governor.
The intervention of the National Leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu led a truce that saw to Ambode formally presenting the N852.316 billion budget proposal to the Assembly on February 5.
The lawmakers subsequently passed on April 29 but did not transmit it to the former Governor to sign into law.
At the budget signing, Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa represented by the Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Gbolahan Yishau gave the new breakdown of the budget to be N479.691bn for Capital and N393.841bn for recurrent expenditures, totalling N873.532bn.
The new budget increased by N21bn from the figure presented by former Governor Ambode. After signing the budget, Gov. Sanwo-Olu said his administration is aware that the year is far gone that he will deploy all necessary machineries to ensure adequate implementation of the budget.
‘‘We will be hard on ourselves to ensure that all the lines you spelt out for us will be followed, We hope that our citizens enjoy and if we are lucky before the year gone, it may not be unlikely we look at it again,’’ he said.
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