Ogun Eyes N1tn Budget For 2025
The Ogun State Government is targeting to have a budget size of N1tn for the 2025 appropriation.
Governor Dapo Abiodun disclosed this on Wednesday at a meeting with the leadership of organised labour held at his office in Abeokuta, the state capital.
He explained that the state budget has increased from less than N400bn at the inception of his administration to the current N703bn, with performance at 80 percent.
Abiodun said that his administration is working towards implementing the new minimum wage of N70,000 and promised the union leaders that Ogun would not take second place in the implementation of the new minimum wage.
He said: “On the new minimum wage, all hands are on deck working assiduously, and I am sure that as always, we will not be number two in the implementation of the minimum wage.
“I have told my team that we should roll up our sleeves; we should work as hard as we can without putting undue pressure on our people. We should be creative, more efficient, block loopholes, and increase our revenue so that we can afford to pay the new minimum wage comfortably, and by the grace of God, we will not be second in terms of implementation.”
The governor said he initiated the meeting as part of efforts to engage stakeholders involved in the movement of people to find solutions to the current situation caused by the fuel subsidy removal.
According to him, his administration has put several measures in place to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal on the people.
“We have commenced the energy transition program by converting our mass transit buses to CNG and launching electric motorcycles and tricycles.
“Yesterday (Monday), we held a meeting with the transport unions. They demanded that we ramp up the availability of these alternative means of fueling transportation in the state and widen the scope because of the success they have recorded.
“The federal government is making rice available for us to sell at very subsidized prices to everybody. The federal government is also providing us with 500 CNG kits that we will use to convert 509 commercial vehicles so that we can lower the cost of transportation,” Abiodun stated.
He asserted that the Federal Government would send 20 CNG buses in the first instance to the state, while the state government would provide 100 CNG buses to transport unions in the state, adding that transportation costs are expected to be reduced by 50-80 percent as more people embrace electric motorcycles and CNG vehicles.
Abiodun attributed the current fuel scarcity to operational and financial issues, while the hike in prices is due to subsidy removal and the floating of the Naira.
“With all that has been put in place, with all hands on deck and the commitment to energy transition, by the time we have transitioned from over-reliance on petrol to CNG to electric vehicles and other forms of energy, you will begin to see that the cost of transportation, which is where the problem really lies, will begin to drop.
“Therefore, our commitment to energy transition is total. It is the only path to sustainability. It has been done in other countries before,” he added.
