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Makinde Signs 2023 Oyo’s Budget of N310.4bn in Saki

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Gov. Makinde Begins Annual Leave Aug. 5; APC Begs Nigerians To Shun Protest

Seyi Makinde of Oyo State on Friday signed into law the state budget of N310.4 billion barely 24 hours after the state lawmakers passed it.

The budget titled: “Budget of Sustainable Development” was signed on Friday at the headquarters of the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency, (OYSADA) in Saki Town, in Oke-Ogun zone.

The state House of Assembly had on Thursday passed the state’s 2023 Appropriation Bill of N310.4 billion after a clause-by-clause consideration of items in the financial proposal.

The passed budget is about N432.5 million higher than the proposed N310 billion earlier sent to the lawmakers by Makinde on Nov. 3.

While signing the bill, the governor lauded the support and cooperation of the state legislature for its timely passage.

He said the budget would aid the completion of some of the ongoing projects in the state.

“Some of the projects we started would be completed in 2023.

“So, this is a budget that has N155.7 billion for recurrent expenditure and N154.8 billion for capital expenditure.

“You will notice that recurrent is slightly higher than the capital expenditure and this is because we are going into a transitional period,” he said.

Makinde said that his administration “has increased the internally generated revenue to over N3.8 billion.

“When we talk about budget performance, since we came in, we have always performed well above 50 percent.

“The signing of this budget in Saki is a testimony to the fact that in Oyo State, our economy across all our zones, is indeed an integrated economy,” he said.

In his remarks, the state Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Prof. Misbau Babatunde, described the 2023 budget as “an inclusive one”, adding that the whole state made their inputs into it.

“We collated every input together and came up with a conclusion.

“We did not just allocate figures for the budget, it was a rigorous project that science, data and logic guided.

“The figure of the budget we are signing today is what will improve the welfare of the good people of Oyo State,” the commissioner said.

The approved budget comprises a capital expenditure of N154.8 billion and a recurrent expenditure of N155.7 billion.

Prior to the approval, the House Committee on Public Accounts, Finance and Appropriation, had presented its report on the state’s 2023 Appropriation Bill to the lawmakers, which was also adopted.

The third reading, which was read at the plenary by the Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Mustapha Akeem, representing Kajola constituency, took careful clause-by-clause consideration of the bill by the lawmakers.

The lawmakers, while deliberating on the proposed budget, suggested certain amendments and concluded that the sum of N154.5 billion be changed and amended to N154.8 billion as final amendment for capital expenditure.

The high points of the budget, as allocated were: Office of the Governor (N400 million); Oyo State Investment, Public and Private Partnership (N800 million) and Oyo State House of Assembly (N8 million).

Others included: Bureau of Public Procurement: N100 million and Rural Electrification Board: N64 million.

Economy

PETROL: ‘Be Wary Of Substandard Product Dumping’, Dangote Refinery Tells Nigerians

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PETROL: 'Be Wary Of Substandard Product Dumping', Dangote Refinery Tells Nigerians

…Says citizens’ health and vehicle longevity are seriously at risk!

The Dangote Refinery on Sunday warned that Nigerians may soon begin to buy substandard petrol, without much concern for either the citizen’s health or the longevity of their vehicles, except care is taken to prevent low products dumping by those open to connive with certain international traders.

The Group’s image maker and spokesman, Anthony Chiejina gave the warning, saying the group was constrained to raise the alarm, despite its desire to refrain from engaging in any media fights.

“We have lately refrained from engaging in media fights but we are constrained to respond to the recent misinformation being circulated by IPMAN, PETROAN, and other associations. 

“Both organisations claim that they can import PMS at lower prices than what is being sold by the Dangote Refinery. We benchmark our prices against international prices and we believe our prices are competitive relative to the price of imports”, Chiejina stated, stressing that the issue on ground was not about being able to land relatively cheaper petrol on ground, but the quality of such products.

“If anyone claims they can land PMS at a price cheaper than what we are selling, then they are importing substandard products and conniving with international traders to dump low-quality products into the country, without concern for the health of Nigerians or the longevity of their vehicles. Unfortunately, the regulator (NMDPRA) does not even have laboratory facilities which can be used to detect substandard products when imported into the country.

“Post deregulation, NNPC set the pace by selling PNS to domestic marketers at N971 per litre for sale into ships and at N990 for sale into trucks. This set the benchmark for our pricing and we have even gone lower to sell at N960 per litre for sale into ships while maintaining N990 per litre for sale into trucks.

“In good faith, and the interest of the country, we commenced sales at these prices without clarity on the exchange rate that we will use to pay for the crude purchased.

“At the same time, an international trading company has recently hired a depot facility next to the Dangote Refinery, intending to use it to blend substandard products that will be dumped into the market to compete with Dangote Refinery’s higher quality production.

“This is detrimental to the growth of domestic refining in Nigeria. We should point out that it is not unusual for countries to protect their domestic industries to provide jobs and grow the economy. For example, the US and Europe have had to impose high tariffs on EVs and microchips to protect their domestic industries.

“While we continue with our determination to provide affordable, good quality, domestically refined petroleum products in Nigeria, we call on the public to disregard the deliberate disinformation being circulated by agents of people who prefer for us to continue to export jobs and import poverty”, the Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer further said.

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Economy

YULETIDE Decorations: LASG To Divert Traffic At Ajose Adeogun

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YULETIDE Decorations,: LASG To Divert Traffic At Ajose Adeogun

The Lagos State Government will divert Traffic, away from a section of Ajose Adeogun Street in Victoria Island, for the mounting of end-of-the-year decoration, for a duration of three weekends starting from Saturday 19th October 2024.

The aforementioned exercise, according to Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi,  will be carried out in three phases with each phase focusing on different sections of the street. 

To this end, the following alternative routes have been mapped out for motorists during the cause of the mounting; 

 During the First Phase which will cover Jubril Martins to Chicken Republic – (Saturday, 19th and Sunday, 20th October 2024)

Traffic inward Eko-Hotel Roundabout will be diverted to the other half (existing section) of Ajose Adeogun Street by VCP Hotel to form contra-flow traffic and exit at Eko-Hotel Roundabout to continue journeys.

Alternatively, Traffic inward to Eko-Hotel Roundabout from VCP Hotel will be diverted through Jubril Martins into Muri Okunola to link Patience Coker and access Ajose Adeogun Street to connect destinations.

During the Second Phase which will cover Molade Okoya Thomas to Mounis Bashorun section – (Saturday, 26th and Sunday, 27th October 2024). 

Traffic inward Ajose Adeogun Street from Eko-Hotel Roundabout will be diverted to a right turn into Molade Okoya Thomas to link Younis Bashorun to access Ajose Adeogun Street to continue journeys. 

During the Third phase of the project spanning 10 meters inward Ajose Adeogun (Saturday, 2nd November, 2024).

Motorists from Adetokunbo Ademola Street will maintain a lane movement for about 10 metres into Ajose Adeogun Street to connect their destinations, while Motorists inward Eko-Hotel Roundabout on Ajose Adeogun Street will maintain a lane movement for about 10 metres into Eko-Hotel Roundabout.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Oluwaseun Osiyemi while imploring Motorists to note the ease of movement plan assured that the State’s Traffic Management Authority will be on ground to manage vehicular activities along the corridor to minimise inconveniences.

The Commissioner therefore advised Motorists to be patient, as the Partial closure is part of the traffic management plans for the commencement of End of Year Decoration of Ajose Adeogun Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, by Zenith Bank PLC.

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Economy

NLC Kicks, Says Petrol Hike Will Further Deepen Poverty, Job Loss

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NLC kicks, Says Petrol Hike Will Further Deepen Poverty, Jobs Lost

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has kicked against the current petrol price hike, stressing that the latest increase in the pump price of petrol will further deepen poverty as production capacities dip.

The Congress added that the increase would lead to more job loss with multidimensional negative effects, and therefore, demanded its immediate reversal.

NLC’s position is contained in a statement signed by its President, Mr Joe Ajaero on Wednesday in Abuja, titled, “What next after increase in pump price?”.

The labour leader said the previous increases had not produced any good results, rather, people only got poorer.

He said the Congress was dismayed by the latest increase in the pump price of petrol without commensurate capacity of Nigerians or mitigatory measures.

“Even following the logic of market forces, we find it an aberration that a private company (NNPCL) is the one fixing prices and projecting itself as a hegemonic monopoly.

“We challenge the government to go to the drawing board and present us with a blueprint for inclusive economic growth and national development instead of this spasmodic ad hocism and palliative policy.

“It needs no stating the fact that the latest wave of increase has grossly altered the calculations of Nigerians once again at a time they were reluctantly coming to terms with their new realities,” he said.

It would be recalled that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had raised the pump price of petrol by 14.8 per cent to N1,030 per litre from N897 across its retail outlets in the FCT.

Earlier in September, the NNPCL had increased the price of the product from N615 to N897.

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