Ayodele Olalere
Lagos State Government will spend a total of N244,845,317,917.00 on infrastructure in the year 2021 as part of drives to improve infrastructure in the state.
The information was contained in the 2021 budget analysis presented by the State Commissioner for Budget and Physical Planning, Mr Sam Egube.
Governor Sanwo-Olu had on December 31st 2020 signed into law the N1.164 trillion 2021 Appropriation Bill.
Other sectors that received priority in 2021 budget are education and health with N146,934,754,802.32billion and N105,987,696,118.86 respectively.
Out of over, N244billion earmarked for infrastructure, a breakdown of the budget indicate that N9,282,323,244.00 billion will be spent on improvement of the waterfront, N150.753bn is provided for the maintenance of roads and other infrastructure within the state.
According to the commissioner, the fund will address the zero-pothole strategy, create link-roads within the metropolis to resolve traffic congestion and its attendant risks.
N15bn will be used for The Rebuild Lagos Project/Trust Fund, while N11billion would be spent on the reconstruction of Lekki-Epe expressway from Eleko junction to Epe T-junction (phase one).
N8.750billion is earmarked for Lekki Regional Roads, N19.500billion will be used for Project Stabilization Fund to intervene on various projects across the state, while N10billion is under State Infrastructure Intervention Fund to also intervene on roads within Local Government and LCDAs.
For other ongoing construction works, a total sum of N13.115billion has also been earmarked for construction and completion of Agege Pen Cinema Flyover, Oregun Bridge Road Network, Agric Isawo Road, Bola Ahmed Tinubu Road, Igbogbo, Ijede Road and Mba Cardoso Road, while N5.9billion will be spent on Lagos Badagry Expressway.
For grassroots projects, the sum of N8.5billion has been set aside under Community and Grassroot Projects for various projects.
Other sectors with substantial budgetary allocation for 2021 are General Public Services with N143,168,045,929.10 Science and Technology with N24,573,976,124.00, Agriculture (N12,981,782,145.00 billion), Commerce N15,230,932,597.00billion), Tourism, Art & Culture (N5,052,710,830.00billion), Energy and Mineral Resources (N30,826,739,585.00 billion), and transportation (N92,745,631,077.00billion).
In the area of Environment, the sum of N59,656,598,835.63billlion has been earmarked, out of which Drainage is expected to gulp N14,936,556,866.00.
Housing and Community Amenities will gulp N37,028,098,126.73, while Recreation, Culture and Religion will take N7,296,395,621.00billion.
The commissioner added the ₦1.164trillion budget is made up of ₦702.935bn for Capital Expenditure and ₦460.587bn for Recurrent Expenditure, giving a 60/40 Capital to Recurrent expenditure ratio strongly in favour of Capital Expenditure.
He further stated a total revenue of N971.028trillion will be generated by Lagos Inland Revenue Service, LIRS, while the deficit of N192.494billion will be financed by a combination of external, internal loans and bond.
He said the budget will rekindle hope among Lagosians in the aftermath effects of the year 2020 EndSars protest, adding
it will “create employment and enhance food security, improve civic participation, inclusion and cooperation in governance, invest in human capital development such as education and healthcare, deploy functional technology in public services, attract investments through Public-Private Partnership, improve the health care systems, Environment and Public spaces, and rebuild Lagos.”
