The Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has presented a budget of 210.21 billion Naira (about 1.3 billion dollars) for the 2014 fiscal year to the State House of Assembly.

Presenting the budget outlook to the State’s lawmakers, the governor said that the capital expenditure would remain 117.5 billion Naira (about 739 million dollars) representing  55.90 per cent while the recurrent expenditure would be 92.7 billion Naira (about 583.3 million dollars) representing 44.10 per cent of the total budget.

The budget tagged ‘Budget of Consolidation’ is aimed at further strengthening his administration’s plan to rebuild the state.

Governor Amosun assured the House of adequate financial administration and re-engineering in the implementation of the budget.

At the event attended by past governors of the state, members of the business community and traditional rulers, the governor also sought the cooperation of all stakeholders in ensuring the success of the budget.

Five Cardinal Programmes

The governor said that the 2013 budget was able to achieve 64.2 per cent and pointed out that the 2014 budget would be geared towards five cardinal programmes with education taking the lion share of 43.9 billion Naira (about 276.1 million dollars) of the budget.

He said that other programmes, health, agriculture/industrialization, rural and urban development, would also take the centre stage.

The speaker of the State House of Assembly, Suraj Adekunbi, promised the readiness of the House to give the necessary backing to the legal instrument and ensure successful implementation of the budget.

“We will give necessary attention to the proposed budget and ensure its passage within the shortest possible time,” Adekunbi siad.

The budget, if approved, is expected to be financed majorly from Federal Allocations and Internally Generated Revenue.