Lagos Needs N7trn To Meet Infrastructure Challenges, To Present Over N2trn Budget

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Friday disclosed that the state requires at least N7 trillion budget size to meet up with infrastructure and basic amenities in the year 2024 fiscal year, saying he will soon present over N2 trillion budget to the state House of Assembly.

Sanwo-Olu who revealed this at the 8th Lagos Corporate Assembly, a business forum, tagged; “Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, BOS Meets with Business Community,” held at Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja, expressed the readiness of his administration to ensure ease of doing business in the state despite current global business challenges.

The governor noted that despite the global business uncertainty, his administration cannot give excuses but must work to achieve its set out goals as promised to the people during the campaign period.

According to Sanwo-Olu, “The demands from the report gathered from Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, shows that if we have the resources, at least N7 trillion will be needed for the year 2024 budget to meet the state’s infrastructure challenges and other basic amenities.

“Though, we are proposing over N2 trillion budget size for the year 2024 to be presented to the state House of Assembly soon and we are having a demand of N7 trillion. Our revenue is far from it.

“That’s one of the challenges we are having presently. We want to fix roads and do it correctly. We need to scale up with modern technology and put in place enduring policies. We didn’t anticipate the current inflation rate. Our focus is on how to meet the demands of our people amidst the speculative market.

“We can’t give excuses, we need to work together. We are running against time. I have a political timeline I am working with. We can’t afford to fail. We will need to work together and identify the way forward. We should be able to solve some of our challenges through your ideas and submissions. We must let the MSMEs breathe for a sustainable economy, through friendly policies.”

Earlier, Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperative, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, explained that undoubtedly, the corporate assembly has been a very important public–private sectors engagement platform, through which the state government and the business community interact and discuss issues that are crucial to the state’s industrial and commercial growth.

Ambrose-Medebem, assured that all issues raised at the last edition had been addressed adequately by various MDAs relevant to improving the business environment in the state.