Segun Ayinde, Abeokuta
Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has attributed the successful implementation of the 2024 budget to increase in funds due to the effective maximisation of more revenue areas and blockage of leakages in the system.
Abiodun disclosed this during the town hall meeting on the 2025-2027 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and 2025 Budget for Ogun West Senatorial District held at Ilaro on Tuesday.
The governor represented by the Chief Chief Economic Adviser and Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Dapo Okubadejo, stated that the 2024 budget has already achieved 80 percent implementation, ascribing the success to the various reforms embarked by the state government.
He said: “Putting the record straight, before our emergence in 2019, budget implementation was below 40 percent but the present administration has moved it up to an average of 75 percent.
“Implementation of the 2024 budget is 80 percent and that of last year was also 80 percent. We had put in place various mechanisms for the execution of the budget and these mechanisms are in line with our pillars of development. We also put in place delivery mechanism and strategies to ensure the variant of most of the budget.
“Also, we have embarked upon a lot of reforms to block leakages, improve efficiency of service delivery. We also looked at other revenue areas; we have embarked on massive digitalization to enhance our revenue in those areas without necessarily overtaxing our people.” he added
Abiodun noted that his administration leveraged on the competitive and comparative advantages of the State and established few ministries and agencies that helped in boosting the state revenue.
He explained that the introduction of Medium Revenue Strategies, Medium Term Expenditure Framework reforms in the payment for seamless operations to block leakages as well as regular meeting to monitor all reforms, were parts of measures aimed at improving the state’s revenue.
The governor divulged that infrastructure like the cargo airport and the flag off of the Inland Dry Port and others were put in place to attract more investors to the state.
He stressed that Ogun West Senatorial District has benefited from the over 600 kilometers of road constructed by his administration in the last five years including the GRA road at Ota, Ilaro-Owode, Atan-Lusada-Agbara, Oke-Irija-Ilobi, among others, noting that the region is not only the home of industries, but the food basket of the state.
Abiodun described the meeting as critical engagement aimed at providing opportunities for the people to press home their demands and aspirations as feedbacks are not only important to the MTEF, but also the 2025 budget.
The Commissioner for Budget Planning, Mr. Olaolu Olabimtan, noted the invaluable contributions to the previous budgets by the people of the State, saying the people’s inputs would go a long way in putting together the 2025 budget.
Earlier, Olu of Ilaro and Chairman, Ogun State Council of Obas, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle, represented by the Onimeko of Imeko, Oba Benjamin Olanite, called for the reconstruction of more roads in the area to improve the economic activities of the people.
In the same vein, representatives of different organisations and groups urged the government to consider more road construction in the senatorial district in the proposed budget.