Oyo Governor signs 2021 Budget into Law

By Olubunmi Osoteku, Ibadan

The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde has signed the N268.8billion 2021 Appropriation Bill tagged: Budget of Continued Consolidation, into Law.

The brief signing ceremony was held at the Executive Council Chamber of the Governor’s Office, Agodi Secretariat, Ibadan.

Addressing top government functionaries and members of the Oyo state House of Assembly, who were at the signing ceremony, Makinde said the 2021 Budget would accommodate more developmental projects for the State, with the Budget performance set at 70 percent.

He noted that the synergy between the three arms of government had made governance easy in the State.

Governor Makinde expressed gratitude to the Legislative Arm for the quick passage of the Budget and also denied the alleged report that the Budget was ‘padded’ by the lawmakers and that the Executive rejected it and forced a revision, saying the lawmakers have a right to review the Budget upwards.

The Governor stated that the 2020 budget fell short of the 70 percent target but recorded a performance that was a little above average at 50.32 percent due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic meltdown occasioned by the fall in oil prices.

He said, “We met a lot of our goals because we used the Alternative Project Funding Approach (APFA), and the Contractor’s Project Financing Scheme, to finance many projects. We also made use of targeted loans for project financing. Of course, the reward for hard work is more work. So, for the 2021 fiscal year, we will continue to be innovative and creative in our approach to financing.”

Makinde stated that the Budget would increase the State’s ability to respond to economic challenges and maintained that his administration would do all that was needed to achieve the fiscal sustainability of the Budget.

“We have some alternative finance models which we will be exploring in 2021. So, the projects which the House saw as imperative, will still be implemented. However, we will carry out those projects without incurring higher interest on loans or negatively impacting Oyo State’s economic policies and budget performance.” he said.

Downward Review
The Governor had ordered the downward review of the N273.7billion Budget earlier approved by the House of Assembly to N268.8billion, due to the need to achieve a favourable Budget performance.

He assured that the year 2021 would see many infrastructural projects started by his administration in 2020, which have less than 18-month cycles, among others, being complete.

Governor Makinde added that his administration would continue to maintain a positive outlook for 2021 and be innovative to ensure that the Budget achieved its performance.

Confidence Okwuchi