For the first time in five years, the Lagos State government would be presenting its most delayed annual budget estimate for 2019 in what is believed to be a reflection of a struggling governance in the state since the middle of this year.
Governance in the state has ebbed significantly, as the vibrancy associated with Lagos and which has been the attraction for other states of the federation, seem lost.
It has been worsened by the recent decision of the power brokers in the state to deny Governor Akinwunmi Ambode a second-term ticket, as well as ongoing electioneering and political intrigues, all of which have left governance in Nigeria’s economic hub largely deflated.
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Checks show that Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government are heavily impacted, as tons of files are said to be awaiting approval while many others already approved have not translated to funds to enable the MDAs execute some of the programmes slated for 2018, 12 days to the end of the year.
One of such programmes, BusinessDay has been told is the Lagos Corporate Assembly otherwise known as Lagos Means Business, usually organised by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, to bring the business community, members of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) and high-flying entrepreneurs to interface with the governor and share ideas and issues of concern.
Discussions and resolutions in the corporate assembly have always helped the state government to rethink and reshape its policies in a manner that reflect the views of the business community in the bid to create an atmosphere conducive for business.
At the last edition of the event in March, Ambode had announced to the corporate world that the event would be held quarterly. The next edition was considered for May but subsequently postponed with a consideration for November. By yesterday, a source within the government confirmed to BusinessDay that the event would no longer hold this year.
Sources said that the delay in the 2019 budget is a fallout of October 2, 2018 All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primaries, which saw Ambode supplanted by Babajide Sanwo-olu. According to our sources, although work on the 2019 budget had begun since June with consultations with relevant stakeholders and MDAs, it ran into some hitches in the build-up to the APC primaries. The dust generated by the primaries was said to have slowed the budgeting processes owing to high level mistrust in government, as some commissioners and cabinet members played down on their responsibilities.
The high point of the politicking was the resignation from office, last month, of Ambode’s commissioner for energy and mineral resources, Wale Oluwo.
Oluwo, who cited the fallout of the APC primaries and the use of a powerful group in the party to intimate and harass the government, said he was joining the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) to fight his former party (APC).
However, Akinyemi Ashade, the commissioner for finance, in a telephone interview with BusinessDay, said work on the 2019 budget is now being concluded and would soon be tabled for deliberations and approval by the State Executive Council.
“We are working on the budget. It has gone through the various processes and procedures and assessments. It is being considered for approval by the State Executive Council. I can assure you that the governor would soon present the appropriation to the House of Assembly for their consideration,” said Ashade, a former commissioner for economic planning and budget in the state.
The 2019 budget, which size, a source said may not be significantly difference from 2018, and to be presented next week, would be the most delayed in recent years. Ambode’s predecessor in office, Babatunde Fashola presented the 2015 budget of N489.69 on November 25, 2014. Ambode presented his first full circle budget of N666 billion for 2016 on December 17, 2015.
The budget presentation improved significantly the following year, as the 2017 budget of N813 billion was tabled before the House of Assembly on November 29, 2016 while the 2018 budget of N1.04 trillion was presented on December 11, 2017.
