Osun proposes N109.9b for 2021

 Toba Adedeji, Osogbo

EDO and Osun States’ Governors Godwin Obaseki and Adegboyega Oyetola on Tuesday presented the 2021 budget proposals of their states to the Houses of Assembly.

While Obaseki presented N153.4 billion budget proposal to the House of Assembly in Benin, Oyetola laid Osun State’s N109.9billion proposal before the Assembly in Osogbo.

The Edo budget proposal represents a 9.7 per cent increase over the revised 2020 budget.

Obaseki said the budget comprises N94.8 billion for recurrent and N58.6 billion for capital expenditure.

The governor said the document, christened: Making Edo Great Again (MEGA) Budget, was exclusively pinned on robustly responding to the dislocations caused by COVID-19 pandemic, whilst building a workforce of the future.

He noted that the N94.8 billion recurrent expenditure estimate for 2021 fiscal year represents a 24 per cent growth from the N76.6 billion actual expected in the 2020 fiscal year.

“The main driver of this growth is increase in allocation for salary payment and pension contributions to cater for new hires occasioned by the ongoing civil service transformation project,” Obaseki said.

The governor explained that the impact areas for the 2021 fiscal year include Education, which will gulp N20.8 billion; Human Capital and Civil Service Reforms, N6.1 billion; Pension and Gratuities, N12.8 billion; Contribution to the State Health Insurance Scheme, N1 billion; Health sector, N10.3 billion and Physical, Urban and Regional Planning, which will gulp N9 billion.

Other critical sectors, according to the governor, include Roads and Transport Infrastructure, which will receive N14.8 billion; Economic Growth and Employment Enablers, N7.6 billion, while Administration gets N8.7 billion.

He said the N153 billion receipt expected in 2021 fiscal year would accrue from FGN/FAAC, N71 billion; Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), N36 billion; Grants, N9.8 billion; Loans 15.3 billion; Capital Development Fund Receipts, N13.8 billion, while the state will have an opening balance of N7.5 billion in the fiscal year.

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He added: “With the collaboration of this Assembly, we have designed a unique instrument through which the state government can attract private sector funding targeted at key development projects. This was done in a manner that does not place a heavy burden on the state government’s balance sheet.

“Our combined efforts have thus led to our ability to syndicate N25 billion of private sector funding, of which N13.8 billion will crystalise in the Final Year 2021.”

In Osun State, Governor Oyetola named the 2021 Appropriation Bill as Budget of Providence.

The governor unveiled a bumper plan of his administration for the youth segment of the state’s population, christened Youth Empowerment, Youth Engagement, Youth Entrepreneurship and Youth Education (4Es).

He said the 2021 Appropriation Bill puts recurrent expenditure at N50,620,283,140.00, representing 46 per cent; while capital expenditure was N59,234,768,500.00, representing 54 per cent.

The breakdown of the budget indicated that the Education and Health sectors got N10,711,328,430.00, representing 18.08 per cent, while the Health sector received N10,647,909,910.00, representing 17.98 per cent.