By Kayode Ojelabi, Abeokuta
Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has said that the 2024 Appropriation Bill of N703.028bn signed into law will further enhance the development of the state and make it Nigeria's infrastructure capital.
The governor stated this while signing the Bill into law after it was presented to him by the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Olakunle Oluomo, supported by principal officers of the House at the Governor's Office, Oke-Mosan Abeokuta.
It will be recalled that the Budget tagged "Budget of Sustain Growth and Development," was submitted to the House on November 30th, 2024, by Governor Abiodun.
Speaking after signing the Budget, the governor said that the state has continued to grow in leap and bounds in the last five years, noting that the budget is a testament of his administration’s commitment to irrevocable implementation its vision.
He said: "When we assumed office on the 29 of May, 2019, we were committed to a vision to ensure that we create an enabling environment for investments and investors to strive in Ogun State, believing that that is very fundamental to the economic development of our state and the individual prosperity of our people.
"Today, we have a budget that has become law, that is more than twice our budget when we assumed office. Year after year, we have successfully implemented our budget to the tune of a minimum of 70 per cent.
"The economy of our state had continue to grow; we have been accorded the rightful place as the state with the most improved economy in Nigeria, fastest growing economy in the country, one of the two most viable states in Nigeria, one of the two states whose Internally Generated Revenue exceed Federal Allocation. These have been made possible by the collective hard work and commitment of all of you. This hard work, I, as the captain of the ship, remain very grateful."
He said his government would continue to build on the solid foundation which had been laid, just as he promised to be fair and equitable to all sections of the state in project implementation and execution.
"My promise to the people of the state is that we will continue to build on the solid foundation that we have established. We will remain just, fair and equitable. We will continue to ensure that we do not develop any part of this state at the expense of another.
"We will ensure that we are inclusive and participatory, we are accountable and obey the rule of law and ensure that everybody continue to have a say on how we govern them," the governor assured.
Governor Abiodun thanked members of the Assembly for working very hard and ensuring that the budget passed through thorough scrutiny before passage, commending their sense of patriotism to the state.
"Today is a day short of 30 days after we submitted this proposal and in between then, there had been public holidays and weekends. The House has denied itself any of these breaks. They worked very hard and tirelessly. They irrevocably and resolutely committed to ensuring that this budget was indeed subjected to thorough examination. They went on budget retreat immediately.
"This gesture and commitment to the oath that you swore to, the commitment to continue the representation of your different constituencies, could not be forgotten in a hurry," Abiodun promised.
Speaking earlier, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Oluomo, who led other principal officers of the assembly to the Governor's Office, said the lawmakers passed the budget after almost a month of rigorous exercise.
"Recall that the budget was presented to the house on November 30 this year after almost one month of rigorous exercise in the house which includes budget retreat, budget defense and committee work that we did in the last 30 days including working on a public holiday," he said.
He explained that the quick passage of the budget was to meet up with the January 1 date in line with international best practice.
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